a women’s priorities with such
concerns as children, husband,
parents, even work and pets superseding
self. “Women suffering from
a heart attack will text Pepcid or
antacids… even when women go
to the Emergency Room, they sit
in the back. ‘Ooh. I don’t want to
bother anybody; take that person
first.’ Women, we sort of minimize
our stuff, because we’re too busy
taking care of everybody.” And this
attitude flies in the face of one of the
most important ways of effectively
battling heart disease, which is recognition
of the symptoms, followed
by immediate action. Further, only
slightly more than half of women
are likely to call 911 if experiencing
symptoms; contrarily most would
call the emergency phone line if a
man near them were experiencing
signs.
Stacey noted the preponderance
of concern for breast and other
forms of cancer, but pointed out,
without minimizing the importance
of the above, that heart disease kills
more women than all forms of cancer
combined. In fact, cardiovascular
disease (CVD) causes 1 in 3
female deaths every year, one every
80 seconds. Also, women do not do
as well with bypass surgery, fewer
survive their first heart attacks, and
more die within the first year of an
attack than men. And despite the
staggering statistic 90% of women
have at least one CVD risk factor,
80% of those are preventable with
awareness and positive lifestyle
choices.
If there can be any yang to the
aforementioned yin, women do
tend to develop heart disease on
average ten years later than men.
However, this precludes African-
American and Latino females, as
well as those suffering with high
blood pressure. “High blood
pressure is the most treatable risk
factor.”
It is with these differences
in mind, the American Heart
Association created gender-specific
guidelines for the prevention of
CVD and strokes in women, including
the varying treatments for each.
“As I say to the naysayers, this isn’t
about pink bathrobes or soft things;
this is about understanding that
women structure, disease, function,
the way they react to tests and drugs
is really different than men.”
As with the inequality of certain
ethnic groups within females, there
are deviations among women and
their pregnancies. Such conditions
as gestational diabetes or gestational
hypertension, which may
affect some pregnant women, will
impact their CVD risks later in life.
“Knowing what happened during
your pregnancies is important, no
matter how old you are,” Stacey
remarked.
An inability to walk is also of
major concern in women, not
because one’s joints may hurt,
but the simple fact of not being fit
enough to keep moving. “Any and
every amount of movement counts;
it doesn’t have to be an hour on
a treadmill… five minutes, ten
minutes, every time you have an
opportunity to move a little more
is more protective in women than
in men.”
Stacey debunked another misconception
of heart attacks when
it comes to the female of the species:
their depiction. Commonly
known in medical circles as the
“Hollywood heart attack,” is
the cliché scenario of someone
clutching their chest. Or figuratively
showing an elephant sitting
upon a person’s chest as indicative
of an attack. But for women, the
experience is often different, more
milder in comparison to those of
men; perhaps nothing more than
lethargy, feeling run down; some
back discomfort or fuzziness in the
head. Stacey recalled one instance
of a women suffering from jaw
pain as being a sign of an attack.
“Know that if something doesn’t
feel right… women often have that
sixth sense that I would say men
don’t… so if you feel something’s
not right with the way you’re feeling,
don’t ignore it. Report it to your
doctor or clinician. Don’t presume
that because it’s not chest pain, that
it’s not something that should be
evaluated.”
Along with eating properly and
keeping active, Stacey stressed finding
a good clinician you trust and
partnering with family and friends,
citing NST as a great place, a community
at residents’ fingertips, to
share in improving their heart health.
So, too, does sleep play an
important role. “Sleeping is critical.
Your ability to sleep well and rejuvenate
is important to your heart
health. When you don’t sleep well,
your blood pressure goes up; you
put fat around your belly more; or
your cholesterol panel gets worse.”
Some of the simple tricks to help
achieve better rest include not
sleeping with the phone next to
your bed or with the television on,
and not sleeping in a warm room.
Nurse Practitioner Deborah
McElligott spent most of her career
in the cardiac arena. It lead her in
the direction of holistic care and
integrative medicine as a means of
managing stress, which is a major
cause of CVD. And as with CVD,
it’s important to recognize the signs
of stress in yourself. How does
stress manifest in your body? It
could be an isolated pain, whether
in the back of the neck, arms
and shoulders or lower back, or an
overall bodily discomfort. It could
show up as diarrhea or an upset
stomach, sweating or shaking.
Emotionally, you might find yourself
more irritable, confused, worried,
sad or angry; your thoughts
might be scattered or racing; your
productivity might drop.
The domino effect of stress leads
to depression or anxiety, which
leads to negative behavioral changes,
such as smoking, overeating
or drinking, which in turn tends
toward weight gain, high blood
pressure or diabetes, all of which
equal heart disease.
Fittingly, Lisa Bondy followed
her colleague’s talk on stress with a
short session of meditation. Seated
before the crowded ballroom, mike
in hand, with lighting reduced and
hypnotic sitar music as a backdrop,
Bondy led the assemblage in a
peaceful moment of relaxation and
introspection. Calm filled the room,
leaving all less stressed and more
heart-healthy wise.
“Om...”
Dr. Rosen has a heart-to-heart with a resident
HOW TO
REDUCE STRESS
♥ Don’t go it alone—Reach out
to family and friends
♥ Learn to breathe deeply
♥ Slow down
♥ Schedule your time
♥ Stick to your schedule
♥ Organize your living space
and declutter
♥ Get moving
♥ Schedule time to do what
brings you joy
♥ Prioritize and delegate
♥ Learn when “good enough”
is good enough
♥ Get enough sleep
♥ Practice realization
techniques
February 2019 ¢ NORTH SHORE TOWERS COURIER 13