Keeping the Women we Love Healthy

We think and talk a lot about how symptoms of heart attacks differ in women, and that is a crucially important topic. As cholesterol medications become more widely used, atherosclerosis is predicted to decrease leading to a decrease in heart attacks. Furthermore, rapid emergency treatment of heart attacks means fewer heart attacks are fatal or debilitating. On the other hand, we do not devote as much time to discussions of heart failure.  "Almost 6 million Americans are living with heart failure, a condition in which the heart is not able to pump enough blood to support the other organs of the body.  Heart failure appears to strike men to a greater extent than women, but it is still a serious consideration in women", comments Dr. Carole Banka, Associate Project Scientist in the Department of Medicine at UCSD School of Medicine Did you know that: More American women die of heart disease than of all forms of cancer combined?  Most women do not know that hea...

Women's heart health should be on women's minds every day, not just during February.  Spreading the word on how heart health differs between men and women creates awareness that hopefully empowers women to understand their own heart health and take appropriate action if facing it. The 'Hollywood' heart attack --where a sharp pain in the left arm and shortness of breath perhaps exemplify what a heart attack looks like -- couldn't be farther from the truth.  The fact is women have heart attacks in a totally different manner that may or may not include the symptoms we are so used to seeing. According to the information provided by ACLS Medical Training, while men generally exhibit the typical symptoms of chest pressure and pain, women generally exhibit symptoms that are not well-known, leading them to delay seeking treatment.  Women who are having a heart attack often feel pain in areas outside the chest, including the jaw, neck, abdomen, legs, and arms. Severe...

### About the Doris A. Howell Foundation: The Doris A. Howell Foundation for Women’s Health Research is committed to keeping the women we love healthy, advancing women’s health through research and educating women to be catalysts for improving family health in the community. The organization does so by funding scholarships to scientists researching issues affecting women’s health;   providing a forum for medical experts, scientists, doctors, researchers, and authors to convey the timely information on topics relevant to women’s health and the health of their families through its Lecture and Evening Series, and by funding research initiatives that will create women’s health awareness and advocacy in the community.     For more information about the Doris A. Howell Foundation, please visit  www.howellfoundation.org.  

Images Courtesy of Free Digital Fotos.net “Go Red for Women”, a date designed to raise awareness of heart disease in women, is the first Friday each February. The story behind wearing red to raise awareness the first Friday of February started in 2003, when the American Heart Association and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute designed the campaign to create awareness of the severity of heart disease in women.  Back then, the disease was affecting and taking the lives of almost half a million women. Sadly today -- after all the research that has been done regarding heart health and women, there are still those who either don't know the effects of heart disease in women, or believe that heart disease affects more men than women. Did you know that: More American women die of heart disease than of all forms of cancer combined?  Most women do not know that heart disease is the #1 killer of women?  Many of the risk factors for heart disease in women (h...

As National Heart Health Month is here, it only seemed appropriate to sit and chat with Dr. Carole Banka, recently elected Chair of the Board of Directors for the Doris A. Howell Foundation.   Dr. Banka is known in the research community for being a champion of gender differences in research, which should lead to diagnosing and treating illness accordingly.   If you ever hear the words “were both genders included in the research/studies?” or “how did gender differences impact the outcome?” then you know it HAS to be her!    Carole L. Banka, Ph.D is currently Associate Project Scientist in the Department of Medicine at the UCSD School of Medicine.  She received her Ph.D. from UCSF School of Medicine and did postdoctoral training at UCSD School of Medicine and The Scripps Research Institute. She has held faculty positions at The Scripps Research Institute and the La Jolla Institute for Molecular Medicine where she was Director of Women’s Health Resea...

As February comes around, Heart Health awareness takes center stage. Education on the risks of heart disease in women is crucial for a long, healthy life.   You  have  probably  reviewed the statistics from the American Heart Association regarding heart health and women.  Here is a summary of the most relevant facts you need to remember: