The resulting buildup, called plaque, may partially or totally block the flow of blood through an artery, depriving cells and organs beyond the plaque of needed oxygen. It will review the risk factors, both the ones that cannot be changed and the ones that can. Every woman can make changes in her life to reduce the chance of contracting heart disease, and those measures will be described. The differences in how heart disease affects women and men are real. Even some of the risk factors described below that are common to both sexes are stronger predictors of CAD in women than men.
Women often experience the symptoms of myocardial infarction differently than men.
While both sexes can suffer angina, the symptoms in women are likely to include nausea, vomiting, neck and shoulder pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, and dizziness. The less frequent recognition of heart disease in women can have deadly consequences. A startling 44 percent of American women die within the first year of an MI, compared with 27 percent of men. For years, research into heart disease focused primarily on men. Now that we know heart disease is the biggest killer of women, women as well as men are being included in studies of heart disease and its risk factors.