Newswise — The following is an excerpt from "The Savvy Woman Patient: How and Why Sex Differences Affect Your Health," a consumer's guide to women's health published by the Society for Women's Health Research in 2006. The Society is a Washington, D.C., based advocacy organization whose mission is to improve the health of all women through research, education and advocacy. The chapter on heart disease is written by Society board chair Nanette Wenger, M.D.
For decades heart disease and heart attacks have been viewed as a man's illness. Unfortunately, nothing could be farther from the truth. Heart disease kills 500,000 American women each year. That is over 50,000 more than the number of men who die of the disease.
In the book, Wenger writes:
"One of the most important differences in coronary heart disease (CHD) is that the death rate from CHD is decreasing for men while it is constant or rising for women. Since 1984, more women than men in the United States have died each year from CHD.
Another important difference is that the first signs of CHD tend to appear about ten or more years later for women than for men. Heart attack, also called myocardial infraction, can occur as much as 20 years later in women. "¦Women are more likely than men to receive an incorrect diagnosis because the range of symptoms in women differs from what physicians have been taught to think of as the typical symptoms of heart attack in men.
"¦[For example,] although chest pain is the most common symptom of a heart attack for both women and men, women often suffer from additional symptoms than men, such as shortness of breath; fatigue; nausea; and stomach, neck, back, abdomen, or shoulder pain. "¦Women are less likely to recognize their own symptoms as those of a heart attack and often delay seeking emergency treatment."
Dr. Wenger is a professor of medicine in the division of cardiology at the Emory University School of Medicine. She is also the chief of cardiology at Grady Memorial Hospital. Additionally, Dr. Wenger is the Chair of the Board of Directors for the Society for Women's Health Research.
"The Savvy Woman Patient" delves into the many sex differences in health and a wide range of diseases--as well as prevention strategies, diagnosis, and treatments for those diseases. Researched and written by the respected Society for Women's Health Research and based on its almost 15 years as a research advocacy organization, this comprehensive guide provides real answers to vital questions that affect a woman's health from young adulthood to menopause and beyond.
For more information on sex-differences in heart health, or to order a copy of "The Savvy Woman Patient," visit http://www.womenshealthresearch.org.
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