It's heart health month here in America. So we're
taking a moment to learn about our planet's leading cause
of death. You know every 34 seconds one person
dies from cardiovascular disease here in the U. S
. Women are at high risk because of biological differences
and societal norms. So we want to break down
how women, you know, our mothers, sisters
, daughters, partners can lower their risk. Dr
jen Caudle is a family physician and associate professor at
Rowan University. Dr Cottle, thank you so much
for being here. The numbers are startling. One
in three women in the U. S. Die
from heart disease. What do we need to know
about heart health? Yeah, so you're right,
it's absolutely startling. And I think starting with those
statistics is where we start understanding how much this impacts
women. One in three women. It's the leading
cause of death in women. It actually contributes to
death in women more than all cancers combined. And
I think when we think about it that way,
like that's the first thing I want people to do
is to let that sit in and understand just how
great this is and how prevalent is. And then
after that, Yes, there are things we can
talk about how to prevent heart heart disease, also
knowing the signs of heart attacks, which can be
different in women as well. Yeah, so,
so it is true that chest pain is the sort
of the universal sign of of of a heart attack
, right? It's the most common symptoms in men
and women, but women may present def they may
not have that crushing chest pain that we think about
. They may just have some pressure in their chest
or they might feel nauseous or lightheaded or dizzy or
short of breath. I even had a patient once
some years ago, her main symptom was upper abdominal
pain. And so this is not to scare women
, but it's to say, listen to your body
, you know, your body and when something is
not right, or you can't figure something out,
make sure you're seeking medical care. What are your
patients telling you at your office when they come in
with issues about heart heart disease about? Yeah,
well, you know, that's a that's a really
interesting question. I'm like, yeah, I know
that. I asked that question before. Um what
do they tell me? Well, there's a lot
of things, right. First of all, we
think about the risk factors for heart disease, things
like high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes and
things like that. I have a lot of conversations
with my patients surrounding that, whether it's doc,
I'm trying to get my numbers better control Doc.
I'm trying to lose a few pounds. How can
I better and how can I live a healthier life
? That's a big conversation that we have and,
you know, along those lines. I would say
it's probably the most important thing and most common thing
, You know, motherhood we understand can increase the
risk of heart issues. What is exactly a play
here. That's a great, great question. You
know, being a mother, first of all,
it's a beautiful thing. You know, the fact
that women have the opportunity to be a mother,
but there are chain that happen in our bodies when
going through the process of pregnancy and giving birth.
And we have to remember that there are a number
of conditions that can happen around pregnancy, whether it's
pre eclampsia, whether it's heart conditions, etcetera,
that can predispose a woman to heart disease as well
. There's a lot here and I think it's really
, really important for us all women and men,
because men and women are in each other's lives,
even as women, young women not to think that
heart disease is not something that doesn't apply to you
. We oftentimes think of people of a certain age
, whether it's men or women. But the truth
is, we all have to be thinking about this
just briefly, is it genetic or lifestyle can you
tell me about? Yeah, it's both. I
would say it's most commonly lifestyle, but there are
genetic factors as well. All right, thank you
so much. That's dr jen, Caudle, family
physician and associate professor at Rowan University