Coronary Artery

High cholesterol and triglyceride levels, physical inactivity, smoking and excess weight lead to coronary artery disease for both men and women, but they are particularly dangerous for women.

Being 30 percent over ideal body weight triples a woman's risk of coronary artery disease.

For both sexes, inactivity increases the risk of coronary artery disease and is a major contributor to obesity, which is associated with an increased risk in men under 65 and in women of any age.

Know your serum lipid values: For women, an HDL level under mg/dL is an important risk factor.

Diabetes: Women with diabetes are at 5 to 7 times greater risk of coronary artery disease. Men's risk increases only 2 to 4 times. Diabetic women who smoke have an additional three- fold risk.

Smoking: In women, 40 percent of all deaths from coronary artery disease can be directly attributed to smoking.

When combined with taking birth control pills, smoking increases the risk of stroke and heart attack even further.

Family history: If a woman's father had a heart attack before the age of 56 or her mother had one before the age of 60, it nearly triples the woman's risk of having a heart attack.

High blood pressure (hypertension): Women with high blood pressure are at 3 to 4 times greater risk for coronary artery disease.

1 out of every 2 men and 1 out of every 3 women who are currently age 40 or younger will develop CAD at some point during their life.

1 out of every 3 men and 1 out of every 4 women, age 70 or older who do not yet have CAD, will develop it during their remaining years of life.

During menopause, around the age of 51, estrogen levels decline and a women's risk of coronary artery disease increases.

From ages 20 to 39, approximately 1 in 30 women has CAD.
From ages 45 to 60, approximately 1 in 9 women has CAD.
Above the age of 60, 1 in 3 women has CAD.

The incidence of CAD is 40 times higher for women ages 75 to 84 than for premenopausal women.

A woman's heart is about two-thirds the size of a man's. His blood vessels, on average, are about 2 to 3 times wider than hers. You'd think that would make women more likely to get coronary artery disease, but they aren't; at least not while their bodies still produce estrogen. Estrogen seems to protect the heart in several important ways:

The hormone also helps keep "good" HDL cholesterol levels high and "bad" LDL levels low. This keeps the blood vessels from becoming lined with plaque, which can reduce the blood supply to the heart.

New studies show that women with coronary artery disease who take hormone replacement after menopause have a 35 to 80 percent lower incidence of heart-related health problems.

Coronary artery disease (CAD) occurs when the arteries of your heart become narrowed or blocked by a waxy substance called plaque. This can lead to serious health problems. CAD causes, among other things, angina (chest pain upon exertion or emotion), heart attacks and the lasting damage they cause, as well as other conditions such as congestive heart failure and arrhythmias (irregular heart beat). More than 6.8 million women and 7.1 million men in the United States have a history of heart attack and/or angina.

CAD is the leading cause of death among both women and men: Each year, around 244,000 men and 236,000 American women die from CAD.

44 percent of women (and 27 percent of men) will die in the first year after they have a heart attack.

63 percent of women (and 48 percent of men) who die suddenly of CAD had no previous symptoms of coronary artery disease.

Almost as many women die from CAD as from all forms of cancer combined: 1 out of every 2 women die from coronary artery disease and/or cardiovascular disease; 1 out of 26 women die from breast cancer.

Most women are not aware of their risks for CAD. Almost half of all women think they are unlikely to have a heart attack. And more than half think their risk for breast cancer is the same or greater than their risk for coronary artery disease.

Coronary artery disease may be common but it is not inevitable. By reducing your risk factors, you can do a lot to prevent it. It is never too late to help your heart.

Stay active. Even moderate exercise can cut the risk of heart attack in half. Aim for two to three hours of any exercise a week.

Don't smoke. Giving up smoking is the single most powerful thing you can do to protect your heart.

Eat a balanced, nutritious diet :
5 servings of vegetables and fruit a day; limit fat calories to 30 percent of your daily total; eat plenty of whole grains and beans.

Reduce stress and anger in your daily life. Studies indicate there is a direct correlation between anxiety, depression and a sense of hopelessness and coronary artery disease.

If you are approaching menopause, find out about the benefits to you of hormone replacement therapy.