Women

It would appear from some papers published that Heart disease in women used to be a lot less in numbers than in Men, especially up to a certain age. I think this is why so many Doctors dismissed heart problems in women with typical symptoms and some still do. However, it has been realised that since women have taken the roles they have in the work place, heart disease is definitely on the increase for them. It seems the more stressful the job, the worse their condition becomes. Hardly surprising when you think how many look after the children, get them off to school, go to work then get home to feed them etc. Maybe to reduce heart disease the answer is to restructure our society.

[kenkeith]

I believe that has been the general opinion for years since the liberation of women in the workplace...higher stress etc.  Also, more women starting smoking...

[ChatterAlly]

Also, I do not think most women are aware of the fact that heart disease is the number 1 killer of women.  With so much emphasis put on breast cancer, the problem with heart disease is not of any worry to most women.  After raising 4 kids with a full time job and a husband that worked many years out of town, I am now raising 3 young grandchildren with a full time job.  My day starts at 4:45am, at work by 6:45am, home by 4pm, start dinner, homework, dishes, laundry, walking, pet duties, bath time for 4.  Maybe in bed by 10pm.  Should I worry that I am making my situation worse by this?  Hmmm, never thought about that.  I just know these things need to get done.  I have to add that since my husband is going through chemo treatments now, that I have most of the yard work to do also.  And we have acreage, not a zero lot.

[ed34]

I don't think it's 'how much' you have to do, but more of 'how stressed' it makes you. Some people can do tasks while not getting stressed at all, while others would be climbing the walls. I remember when my wife was first taken into hospital, the thing which stressed me most was the washing machine. I had to actually do some research to see what materials/colours could go into the same load, and then I had to read the instruction manual for the machine to see how to set the right temperature and wash cycle. My wife would do all that in 2 mins, it took me about 2 hours to start my first wash. Oh, and let's not get into ironing, it stresses me out just thinking about the clothes I ruined :(

[Rosemary349]

It does make you wonder!  Doctor's are still telling me that stress doesn't cause heart disease.....but now research is showing that lack of sleep can play a part.  There was even research where animals (rats?) were fed high fat diets, one of the groups had a condition where they got cuddles from the researcher each day - they seemed to develop atherosclerosis at a slower rate, despite eating the same high fat diet as the other groups.

The french may drink a lot of red wine, but they are also more relaxed around lunch time.....stress definitely has something to do with it all.

[ChatterAlly]

Ok, with all this said, do you think that "emotional" stress plays a part in heart disease?  I would think that the bigger role would be the "physical" stress.  We know that the physical demand on the damaged heart is critical, but how do emotions strain the heart?  Not trying to debate this, but needing to know as much as I can. I know with me, I do get chest pains when I get emotional. But why?  How?  Thanks

[kenkeith]

Emotions create a chain reaction in the body — stress hormone levels increase, blood vessels constrict, blood pressure rises, and the immune system is weakened. If we consistently experience emotional stress, it can put a strain on the heart and other organs, and eventually lead to serious health problems. Cancer has been linked with emotional stress as well.

[ed34]

I think it has only been accepted in recent years as a problem. I remember getting some strange looks when I mentioned this to experts at cardiac rehabilitation three years ago, and stress wasn't on the risk factor list. I even remember my Mother and others making comments to people under stress saying "keep that up and you'll have a heart attack". Science does take it's time, but it cannot simply rely on observation, it requires experiments and evidence.
I still fail to understand why our societies are not being looked into for changes to help reduce stress. Everyone complains how much heart disease costs communities yet nobody seems to be addressing it. With this current worldwide financial crisis, I would bet a lot of money that heart disease will increase. Also the fact that in order to lower the UK deficit, the poor have been affected the most with new policies, making them even poorer.

[ChatterAlly]

Healthcare is almost unattainable for me because I have heart disease.  I stand in firm agreement regarding changes in our society, and further to that, there has not been enough research into heart disease. I would love to know why my trigs are over 2100.  It has a name, but do they really know why my liver produces that high number?  There just seems to be so many questions and no so many answers to heart disease.

[grendslori]

Well I can tell all of you that stress definately plays a part where heart disease is concerned. On April 30, 1994 we lost our brand new home in a electrical fire. We lost all of our pets in that fire as well which was probably more devastating to all of us. Within 2 weeks, my husband was admitted to the hospital because they thought he had a heart attack (turned out to be stress related) and my daughter was in the ER more times than I care to count fo chest pain and arrhythmia problems. Many of you know that she already had heart disease and has since been transplanted; however, the stress of that fire caused a speeding up of her heart disease and her doctor proved that at trial. The catacholamines that are spilled over into the blood stream have a direct affect on the heart.

[grendslori]

Oh here's another interesting fact. In this country there is a lot of support for children who have cancer. It's advertized everywhere. Here's a really SAD fact: MORE CHILDREN DIE every year from heart disease than children who die from ALL forms of cancer and yet no one seems to care about that!

[ChatterAlly]

That is what I have been saying for some time now.  The survival rate for cancer patients is phenomenal compared to the heart patient.  And cancer has so many foundations that help in research and aid for those patients.  Heart disease needs an advocate all its own.  Most women believe that cancer (breast in particular) is the number one killer of women, and they are dead wrong! I am standing with you on this, dear friend. Ally