Heart
disease is a disorder that affects the heart muscle or the
blood vessels of the heart.
There
are various forms of heart disease, they can include:
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heart
valve pulmonary stenosis |
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heart
failure |
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aortic
valve prolapse |
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|
heart
tumor |
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•
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aortic
valve stenosis |
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heart
attack |
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arrhythmias |
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hypertrophic
cardiomyopathy |
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cardiogenic
shock |
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idiopathic
cardiomyopathy |
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congenital
heart disease |
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ischemic
cardiomyopathy |
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dilated
cardiomyopathy |
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alcoholic
cardiomyopathy |
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mitral
valve prolapse |
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mitral
regurgitation; chronic |
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peripartum
cardiomyopathy |
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mitral
stenosis |
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stable
angina |
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mitral
regurgitation; acute |
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tricuspid
regurgitation |
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Millions
of women heading for menopause are also heading for heart
disease - and many of them have it and don't know it. By
the age of 50, most women are more overweight and more sedentary
than men, and more women than men have high cholesterol
-- total blood cholesterol over 240 -- a major risk factor
for heart disease. All three factors -- overweight, inactivity
and high cholesterol -- add up to make millions of American
women candidates for heart disease.
Women
live more than one-third of their lives after menopause,
so if they don't tackle heart disease head-on, they could
be setting the stage for years of disability. An estimated
one million women already have heart disease when menopause
hits, but -- because symptoms often are silent -- many don't
know it.
Why women are at risk
Overweight
women have twice the risk for heart disease as healthy-weight
women. One in five women has some form of cardiovascular
disease, including heart disease.
The
good news is heart disease can be diagnosed and treated.
Internists are uniquely qualified to know all the signs
and symptoms in women.
