Heart Disease—Your Greatest Health Risk!

Find out why heart disease – not breast cancer – should be your No. 1 health concern.

When you read this headline what do you think is your greatest health risk? Breast cancer? Some other “female” disease? The surprising answer is: The No. 1 killer of women is heart disease.

Roughly 500,000 American women die of cardiovascular disease every year, compared with just over 41,000 from breast cancer. “Until recently, heart disease was considered a man’s illness,” says cardiologist Deborah Sundlof, D.O., of Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network.

At younger ages, that’s true. Estrogen gives natural protection, putting premenopausal women at far less heart disease risk than men their age, says Sundlof’s colleague, Karen Sciascia, D.O. But as menopause depletes a woman’s estrogen, her risk quickly equals that of men. Today, heart disease is the leading cause of death in women, killing more women than men every year.

To make matters worse, “Heart disease can be more difficult to diagnose in women,” Sundlof says. “The symptoms can be the same, but they may be more subtle.”

So what’s the good news?

The good news is that there are a lot of things that you can do—starting today—to prevent heart disease. Take your heart health to heart! Read through the risk factors and assess your own personal level of risk. Some of the factors you can’t control, such as increasing age, family health history and ethnicity. Most risk factors, however, can be modified, treated or controlled by focusing on changing lifestyle habits, such as nutrition and physical activity, or by taking medicine, if needed.

At Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network, wellness is our focus. Whether you are taking a proactive approach to prevention or you need to come to us for treatment of a cardiovascular problem, we are here to support and care for you.

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