Understanding Women's Heart Health: What Everyone Needs to Know

This Go Red Day, we're spotlighting a critical health issue: heart disease is the #1 killer of women (including assigned females at birth-AFAB), yet 80% of heart attacks and strokes are preventable. At One Medical, we dedicate extra time and expertise to understanding your unique heart health needs.

Heart disease doesn't discriminate, but it does affect women differently than men. Understanding the unique cardiovascular risks women face throughout their lives is crucial for maintaining optimal heart health and preventing serious complications.

The Reality of Heart Disease in Women

Heart disease affects nearly half of women over their lifetime, making it the leading cause of death. But here's the good news: approximately 80% of heart attacks and strokes are preventable through proper awareness, lifestyle changes, and regular screenings.

While this post focuses on female-specific risk factors like pregnancy complications and menopause, other conditions can also increase your cardiovascular risk, including anxiety, depression, chronic stress, diabetes, and high cholesterol. We've put together this guide so you can take action! If you see a condition you've experienced, book a Heart Health visit to discuss what you can do to lower your risk of heart disease.

Pregnancy: An Early Window into Heart Health

Pregnancy serves as more than just a time of bringing new life into the world, it acts as an early indicator of future cardiovascular health. Certain pregnancy complications can signal increased risk for heart disease later in life.

High Blood Pressure During Pregnancy

High blood pressure disorders during pregnancy including pre-pregnancy chronic high blood pressure, gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, or eclampsia raise your likelihood of developing conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol. These conditions often appear earlier than in women who didn't experience these pregnancy complications.

What You Can Do:

• Keep detailed records of any pregnancy complications
• Share this history with all your healthcare providers
• Ask about earlier screening for blood pressure and cholesterol

Gestational Diabetes

Women who develop gestational diabetes face an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life. Perhaps less commonly known is that gestational diabetes also increases the risk of early plaque buildup in blood vessels. This means that even women who don't develop diabetes after pregnancy may still face increased cardiovascular risks.

What You Can Do:

• Get screened for type 2 diabetes regularly after pregnancy
• Maintain a heart-healthy diet and exercise routine
• Monitor your cholesterol levels

Other Pregnancy-Related Risk Factors

Fetal growth restriction and preterm labor can also signal future cardiovascular concerns and warrant closer monitoring of your heart health.

Menopause: A Critical Transition Period

The menopause transition marks a pivotal point in midlife when your risk for heart problems can increase quickly. Women who experience premature menopause before age 45 are at greater risk due to these cardiovascular changes occurring earlier in life.

While menopause doesn't directly cause cardiovascular disease, hormone changes during this transition create several shifts that impact heart health:

Cholesterol Changes

As estrogen levels drop during menopause, LDL or "bad" cholesterol and triglycerides can increase, while HDL or "good" cholesterol may decrease. This creates a cholesterol profile that you may need to track and treat more closely.

Hot Flashes and Night Sweats

Those hot flashes and night sweats aren't just uncomfortable; frequent or persistent ones have been linked to a higher chance of developing heart problems. That's why managing these symptoms is an important part of protecting your heart during menopause.

Blood Pressure Changes

During menopause, the part of your nervous system that helps you respond to stress often becomes more active, which can cause blood pressure to rise. This change requires careful monitoring and management to prevent long-term cardiovascular complications.

Blood Vessel Changes

Menopause increases the chance that small blood vessels in your body may become stiff and have trouble functioning properly. This can cause chest pain and even heart attacks that are harder to detect through traditional testing methods. Ongoing research is exploring whether hormonal changes directly impact these vascular changes.

Body Composition Changes

The redistribution of fat tissue during menopause often leads to increased fat around your organs. This type of fat accumulation is associated with increased waist circumference, insulin resistance, higher blood sugar levels, and increased heart disease risk.

What You Can Do:

• Schedule regular blood pressure and cholesterol checks
• Talk to your provider about managing menopause symptoms
• Maintain a healthy weight through diet and exercise
• Monitor your waist circumference

Taking Control of Your Heart Health

Understanding these risk factors is the first step toward maintaining optimal cardiovascular health throughout your life. The key is recognizing that heart health isn't just about genetics—it's about making informed decisions, maintaining regular healthcare screenings, and adopting heart-healthy lifestyle changes.

Early identification and management of your cardiovascular risk factors can make the difference between developing heart disease and maintaining a healthy heart for life.

Ready to take action this Go Red Day? Book a Heart Health visit with your trusted One Medical provider to understand your personal heart health risk factors. To book a Heart Health visit, log into your One Medical account and under book an appointment, select Heart Health visit.