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Heart Disease

Women and Heart Disease - Prevention and Risk Factors

Summary & Participants

Heart disease doesn't always happen to someone else, so it's important to know how to minimize your risk.

Medically Reviewed On: August 04, 2008

Webcast Transcript

ANNOUNCER: Cardiologist Nieca Goldberg wants women to take heart disease seriously.

NIECA GOLDBERG, MD, AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION SPOKESPERSON: Heart disease is the leading killer of women. One in three women in our country dies of heart disease. But if you go out to the average woman on the street, they don’t think it’s going to happen to them.

DEBRA, HEART DISEASE SURVIVOR: Never, ever did I ever think that I would have a heart attack at 52.

ANNOUNCER: Although women are most likely to have a heart attack about 10 years after menopause, the causes of heart disease begin years earlier. Cholesterol buildup in the arteries can start as early as the teens.

ANNOUNCER: That’s why Doctor Goldberg recommends the following steps to reduce your risk: -work with your doctor to establish an exercise program. -eat a heart healthy diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables that’s low in saturated fats. -if you smoke – quit! -and talk to your doctor about heart disease.

ANNOUNCER: You should also be aware of the risk factors you can’t change – like family history.

NIECA GOLDBERG, MD, AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION SPOKESPERSON: Particularly a woman's parents, whether it's the father or mother, if they were young, when they had their first symptoms of heart disease, that increases that woman's risk by 25 to 50%.

ANNOUNCER: Debra doesn’t want other women to be taken by surprise like she was.

DEBRA, HEART DISEASE SURVIVOR: I want you to know your family history. I want you to know your cholesterol levels. I want you to know if you have diabetes. I want you to be proactive. You do it for a mammography, you do it for a Pap test, do it for your heart.

ANNOUNCER: Thanks for joining us on today’s Once Daily.