BC Living
How to Support BC Wineries Now
Embark on Culinary Adventures: 5 Must-Try Solo Dining Experiences Around BC
You Gotta Try this in April 2024
4 Tips on Balancing a Nutritious Diet with a Side of Indulgence
Choosing Connection: A BC Family Day Pledge to Prioritize Presence Over Plans
Embracing Plant-Based Living this Veganuary and Beyond
Inviting the Steller’s Jay to Your Garden
6 Budget-friendly Holiday Decor Pieces
Dream Home: $8 Million for a Modern Surprise
Travel Light, Travel Right: Minimalist Packing Tips for Solo Explorers
A Solo Traveller’s Guide to Cozy Accommodations
Local Getaway: Relax at a Hidden Cabin along Jordan River
Films and TV Series that Inspire Solo Travel
B.C. Adventures: Our picks for April
Cooking Classes
8 Gadgets and Gear for Your Solo Adventures
A Solo Traveller’s Guide to Souvenir Hunting in BC
Sḵwálwen Botanicals – Changing the Face of Skincare
A new report paints a sobering picture of just how deadly a heart attack can be for women
Women and men share many heart disease risk factors. However, women often develop symptoms that are subtler and harder to detect as a heart attack. When it comes to heart health, why do these distinctions matter? Because, it is resulting in the leading cause of premature death for women in this country.
The most common symptoms for both men and women are chest pain… that is the classic Hollywood male version, says Dr. Karin Humphries, scientific director of BC Centre for Improved Cardiovascular Health. However, most women will likely report atypical symptoms, such as sweating, shortness of breath, nausea, and they will complain about unexplained joint pain in the neck, back or jaw.
Women are also more likely than men to have a feeling of general weakness or a sensation of heartburn that seems to be related to exertion rather than to eating.
There is still so much we don’t know, and we have an urgent need to better understand the differences between men and women, says Dr. Humphries.
A recently released Heart & Stroke 2018 Heart Report paints a sobering picture of just how deadly a heart attack can be for women. According to the most recent Statistics Canada data, close to 25,000 women die each year from heart disease.
For both men and women, the main risk factors are smoking and diabetes, says Dr. Humphries. However, the impact of these risks is worse in women. To be honest, we aren’t completely sure why diabetes increases a women’s risk of heart disease, but we suspect it might be because women with diabetes more often have other added risk factors, such as obesity, hypertension, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
Additional threats include increased hypertension during menopause, family history and a history of preeclampsia during pregnancy.
It is a tragedy. And it doesn’t have to happen.
The good news is that there are many ways in which women can significantly reduce their risk, says Dr. Humphries
First off, quit smoking, or better yet don’t start. The evidence is overwhelming that cigarette smoking increases the risks of heart disease, lung disease, peripheral vascular disease and stroke.
The Heart & Stroke Foundation also suggests women eat a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and fish, and low in animal products, simple carbohydrates and processed foods.
Other factors to lower your risk include regular exercise, maintaining a normal weight, blood pressure, blood lipid and blood sugar levels.
It’s important for women to be proactive in reducing their heart attack risk, says Humphries. I encourage women to advocate for themselves I doubt most women engage with their doctors about their risks of heart disease, but they must.
Although, overall rates of hospitalizing related to heart disease have gone down in British Columbia, alarmingly the number of women under the age of 55 have increased.
This is a very worrisome trend, says Dr. Humphries. Sadly, young women in this age group are smoking more, have higher levels of stress and rates of obesity.
Courtesy of the BC Heart & Stroke Foundation