February 5, 2009Heart to Heart
Area cardiologists share woman-to-woman heart-health strategies
Appeared February 5, 2009 in The Beacon News Lifestyles section
(Corey R. Minkanic/For The Beacon News)
Continuously striving for a heart-healthy lifestyle, Dr. Santosh Gill said she is not so different from most women these days, balancing multiple responsibilities, including career, family and personal health.
Gill, medical director of cardiology at Rush-Copley Medical Center in Aurora, said proper exercise and diet can decrease women's chances of having a heart attack, and those with busy lifestyles should approach prevention realistically.
"The important thing to remember (about health routines) is that if we slip off track for a while, we just need to get back on," said Gill, who recommends moderate physical activity 30 minutes per day.
Also on the track to better heart health, she said, is proper nutrition.
"Often when we think about diet, we think we need to lose weight," said Gill. "But nutrition is important for energy. Your car won't run if you don't put gas in it, and if you put bad gas in it, it won't run well."
She said nutrition education, focused on portion control, should start "as soon as people begin making their own food choices."
Dr. Diane Wallis, FACC, FCCP, cardiologist at Midwest Heart Specialists -- which is affiliated with Edward Hospital in Naperville and has locations in Lombard, Naperville and Downers Grove -- agreed that portion control is important for heart health and said the Mediterranean diet tops her list of diet recommendations.
"Many people think (the Mediterranean diet) is those huge portions of pastas, but actually it's nuts, fruits, salad and very little pasta with a good amount of fish and almost nothing fried," Wallis said. "People who follow a Mediterranean diet in the proper portion can have almost 70 percent reduction in heart disease."
Wallis educates people on improving their relationships with food and suggests the book "Mindless Eating" by Brian Wansink.
"His contention is you don't need willpower to eat properly -- you just need to be aware of what you eat."
For instance, research shows people respond differently to food based on its color and the size of the plate, she explained.
For heart health, a body mass index (BMI) of less than 25 is ideal, according to Wallis, who added that the calorie intake of the average American female is more than 3,000, and most women burn only 1,000 to 2,000 calories per day.
Dr. Neda Zamani, FACC, a cardiologist at Sherman Hospital in Elgin, said regular checkups and cholesterol screenings also are beneficial, along with a knowledge of these symptoms: chest pain, shortness of breath and palpitations.
"If symptoms go away, women tend to ignore them, and sometimes women think it's a lack of sleep, hormones, etc," Zamani said.
Wallis also noted ways women misread their symptoms. "Women are more likely to think (symptoms are caused by) stress or indigestion," she said. "Women are notorious for self-diagnosing." Yet, she added, "While many women know the cholesterol levels of their spouse or boyfriend, they often don't know their own."
Other numbers significant to heart health are blood pressure readings, according to Wallis: "The healthiest numbers are under 120 mmHg (millimeters of mercury)."
But symptoms aren't always present.
"Many women who die suddenly of a heart attack have never had a symptom," said Wallis, adding that heart disease affects one in three women, and smoking raises the risk. "Awareness really starts at every step of the chain, from access to the medical system to treatment in the emergency room."
Wallis said that in emergency treatment, "women are 14 percent less likely to get aspirin, 10 percent less likely to get beta blockers, and 20 percent less likely to get stents and all treatments to open the arteries. If they are not getting proper treatment, they need to demand it."
A feeling of chest fullness or a squeezing sensation or discomfort instead of sharp pain can be symptoms of a heart attack, Wallis said.
"While women are just as likely as men to have these symptoms with a heart attack," she said, "vague symptoms such as dizziness, weakness, shortness of breath or feeling clammy appear more frequently in women than men, and may be the only symptoms."
» Click to enlarge image Dr. Santosh Gill, medical director of cardiology at Rush-Copley Medical Center in Aurora, plays tennis with her instructor. Gill said proper exercise and diet can decrease women's chances of having a heart attack.
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Managing your heart disease risk factors
Women and cardiovascular diseases
Nearly 39 percent of all female deaths in America occur from cardiovascular disease, which includes coronary heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases.
• CVD is a particularly important problem among minority women. The death rate due to CVD is substantially higher in black women than in white women.
• In 2003, CVD claimed the lives of 483,842 females; cancer (all forms combined), 267,902.
• In 2003, coronary heart disease claimed the lives of 233,886 females compared with 41,566 lives from breast cancer and 67,894 from lung cancer.
• 38 percent of women compared with 25 percent of men will die within one year after a heart attack.
• Risk of heart disease and stroke increases with age.
• Low blood levels of "good" cholesterol (high density lipoprotein or HDL) appear to be a stronger predictor of heart disease death in women than in men in the over-65 age group; high blood levels of triglycerides (another type of fat) may be a particularly important risk factor in women and the elderly.
• Regular physical activity and a healthy weight reduce the risk of non-insulin-dependent diabetes, also called type 2 diabetes, which appears to be an even stronger contributing risk factor for heart disease in women than in men.
Source: American Heart Association