Host: Heart disease is a serious health concern for both men and women. However, women have historically neglected their heart health. At the Sister to Sister Foundations, Executive Women's Breakfast, respected Washington D.C. newscaster, women's heart disease advocate, Maureen Bunyan and Dr. Roccella from the NIH sat down with us to raise awareness and inform women about the potential risks of heart disease.
Maureen Bunyan: Over the years, we were told by authoritative people, women aren't as much at risk for heart problems as men are because men don't do this, men don't take care of themselves and etcetera, etcetera. And so the medical community as well as the public, we all sort of grew up thinking women are immune from heart disease. So many of us just didn't check it off on our list of things to be concerned about and now we are learning that's not the case.
Dr. Edward J. Roccella: Women aren't aware of this issue as much as they could be because for several reasons. One, they are preoccupied with all the things; women are busy in this country. Many of them are executives, they are working. Many of them are raising families, they are balancing, many of them are single parents; they are balancing the whole variety of things. And women have always been the caregivers for the others, not only for themselves. So they are concerned with other issues.
Maureen Bunyan: We have to catch up in terms of public education.
Dr. Edward J. Roccella: Our first dataset really came out in 1960 that we saw that women had heart disease like men but got it a decade later than men. Heart disease signs and symptoms are a little bit different in women, but they should be recognized.
Host: According to data from the National Institute of Health, the most common symptom of heart attack in both men and women is chest pain. However, it is more common for men to have continuous pain or pressure in the chest, while women are more likely to experience sporadic pain and are more likely to have pain in other areas of the body such as the arms, back, jaw and stomach. It's crucial that women learn to recognize the symptoms of heart attack as they are less likely than men to seek medical help for chest pain.
Dr. Edward J. Roccella: Women should be getting their blood pressure checked, should be getting their cholesterol checked, because the most important thing is heart disease can be prevented.
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