Women's Health
Stress
Whether you are a young college student dealing with deadlines and papers, a young mother staying up a night, a corporate woman juggling the demands of climbing the ladder, a single Mom stretched meeting all the demands of you, a widow struggling to survive on your own, or…a combination of the above – women today are stressed.
And…as a result we are seeing more evidence of many stress related illnesses. Stress robs us of our vitality, passion and self – expression. To make matters worse, stress can take the Beauty inside of us, turn us into a Beast and cause long term health challenges.
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Hormones
Hormonal imbalance, although caused by multiple factors (can put a link here to the next page), is exacerbated by stress. Cortisol drains our precious sex hormones, creating a myriad of hormone challenges, significant symptoms and can lead to many long term health risks. Here’s a short list of symptoms that may be associated with Progesterone, Estrogen or Testosterone imbalances.
- Weight gain
- Unstable blood sugar
- Cholesterol challenges
- High blood pressure
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Difficulty sleeping
- Fibrocystic disease (breast and uterus)
- Hot flashes & night sweats
- Mood swings
- PMS
- Decrease in sex drive (libido)
- Bladder infections & incontinence
- Vaginal dryness
- Decreased stamina
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Heart Disease - Gender Matters!
The Perception
- Fewer than 1 in 10 women believes she is at risk for heart disease.
- 62 percent of women believe that cancer is a women’s greatest threat. - Nieca Goldberg, MD, Women are Not Small Men, 2002
"Miss" Perceptions
- Due to the great efforts of the red dress campaign 2004: approximately 54% recognized heart disease as a significant risk
- However, sadly…Only 8-13% women cited heart disease as their greatest health risk
- National Center for Health Statistics. 1998
- Hochman, JS,. Tamis, JE, Thomplsin TH, et al. NEJM, 1999; 341: 226-232
- http://www.womenheart.org
The "Heart Truth"
- Forty percent of women in North America will die of heart disease – our number one killer! More women die of heart disease than the top 6 leading causes of death combined. - AHA, Heart Truth campaign, http://www.reddress.org
- More women die of heart-related causes than the next 6 leading causes of death combined
- American Heart Association, 2005
- Anand, S. JACC, Nov. 15, 2005
- Even more staggering than these numbers is the fact that more women are dying from heart attacks - without any warning! Many are still startled and state "my heart attack seemed to come out of the Blue"
- These statistics reinforce this cold reality. Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) rates have declined or been stable in age, gender and race, from 1989-1998.In women however, SCD increased 21% during this period in women ages 35-44 years
- Zheng ZJ, Croft JB, Giles WH, Mensah GA
- Circulation. 2001; 104 (18) 2158-63
Here's How Our Gender Matters:
- 38% of women(vs. 25% of men) will die within 1 year of a recognized heart attack
- 35% of women (vs. 18% of men) heart attack survivors will have another heart attack within 6 years
- 45% of women (vs. 22% of men) heart attack survivors become disabled with heart failure within
6 years - http://www.womenheart.org
Why is There Such a Gender Gap?
We are just beginning to unravel the mystery, as researchers now understand that women actually develop heart disease differently.
- The simplest analogy is how gender matters in relation to weight gain. Men gain weight, in one spot…the famous Tire around the midline. Similarly men’s coronary plaque is localized like a Pimple or a sore. This pimple or sore is more easily seen on diagnostic studies and more accessible to interventional procedures. Women on the other hand, have what is called diffuse disease. “Diffuse means to pour out in every direction. Thus …women develop small vessel disease that is not easily seen or easily treated with coronary interventions like angioplasty, stents or bypass surgeries.
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