Heart Disease: Spreading Awareness among Women

Heart disease is the number on killer in the United States. Nearly 787,000 people in the U.S. died from heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases in 2011. That’s about one of every three deaths in America. About 2,150 Americans die each day from these diseases.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death among women in the United States. It is estimated that one in four women die from heart disease every year. Women are at a higher risk for heart disease than men because of a lack of knowledge and information. Women often feel the need to care for others before themselves and neglect their own health needs. As mothers, and sisters, and daughters it is important to protect our health for those that depend on us. Heart disease is preventable through knowledge and awareness and taking precautionary steps.

According to the office of the minority health, approximately 48% of African American women and 44% of African American men suffer from some form of the cardiovascular disease which includes heart disease and stroke and adults are 40 percent more likely to have high blood pressure while the women are 1.6 times more likely to die from heart diseases and complications than other ethnic groups (The Office of Minority Health, 2016).

Cardiovascular disease, mainly coronary heart disease and stroke, is the leading cause of death among all racial and ethnic groups in the United States. A disproportionate number of people in minority and low-income populations die or become disabled from cardiovascular disease. The death rate for coronary heart disease for the nation decreased by 20% from 1987 to 1995, but for blacks, the overall decrease was only 13 percent. The coronary heart disease mortality rate for Asian Americans was 40% lower than whites, but 40% higher for blacks in 1995. High blood pressure and hypertension can increase the risk for coronary heart disease, and it has been shown that racial minorities have higher rates of hypertension, tend to develop hypertension at an earlier age, and are less likely to receive treatment for high blood pressure. Also, only 50% of American Indians, 44% of Asian

The secondary objective of this program is to increase the frequency of communication between the women and their health care provider regarding their risk factors of CVD and the importance of taking preventive actions.2 Primary care physicians must identify the high risk groups and educate them regarding their perceived risk factors and inform them the preventive measures available during their routine visits. This program’s objectives recognize the need to eliminate the health disparities and places emphasis on reaching the African-American and Hispanic women population, due to their increased risk.2 The program also builds partnerships with hospitals and other institutions to promote educational programs and provide materials regarding heart disease to high risk communities and healthcare professionals.2 The campaign launched the Red Dress symbol of the program as a red alert designed to build awareness that women are at risk for heart disease and to

African American women are dying at a much higher rate in preventable health issues like HIV/AIDS, diabetes and heart disease. In February 2005, the Black AIDS Institute found that black women accounted for 72 percent of new HIV/AIDS cases in women in Los Angeles alone. Black women are also 25 times higher to get HIV/AIDS which is mostly due to inadequate health screenings.

African-American women have a higher rate of hypertension (high blood pressure) than white women and Hispanic women. “According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 34.2% of the Black, non-Hispanic female population between 1998 and 1994 had hypertension 22.0% of Hispanic women and 19.3% of White; non-Hispanic women had hypertension during this time.” (NWHIC, 2015) A few of the reasons African-American women have a higher rate of hypertension is because of genetic and environmental factors, also dietary factors such as their bad eating habits and huge salt

Mexican American’s deal with different degenerative disease, each more crippling then the next. One of the greater diseases is cardiovascular. Cardiovascular disease can stem from any area related to the heart or in other words, the vascular system. Although cardiovascular disease can happen to any ethnic group and gender this seems to be more prominent among Mexican Americans than their Caucasian counter part.

Hypertension is a developing problem worldwide associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. In 2020, the world population will be approximately 7.8 billion people, and there will be 1 billon people who may be affected by hypertension (Tomson & Lip, 2005). One in three adults in the United States has high blood pressure. According to the report “Health, United States, 2010 with Special Feature on Death and Dying,” the prevalence of hypertension among adults 20 years old or older increased from 24% to 32% during 1988-1994 and 2005-2008. The African-American population has a higher prevalence of this health condition than white Americans do. In 2005 to 2008, the prevalence of hypertension among black males (41.4%) was more than 10%,

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines High Blood Pressure as the force of blood pushing against the walls of your arteries, which carry blood from your heart to other parts of your body. Blood pressure normally rises and falls throughout the day. But if it stays high for a long time, it can damage your heart and lead to health problems. High blood pressure raises your risk for heart disease and stroke, which are leading causes of death in the United States. One out of every three adults over the age of twenty- that’s nearly eighty million Americans have high blood pressure. What’s more interesting is that nearly twenty percent don’t even know they don’t have it. Consequently, African American suffer more from this disease than any other race. According to the American Heart Association, forty percent of African American men and women have high blood pressure (AHA, 2016). Notably, adults twenty years and older consist of 42.6 percent are men and 47.0 percent are women that have this illness. For years’ researchers, have tried to understand why High Blood Pressure affect the African American at a higher rate than others. As a

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the world, responsible for 30% of all deaths globally (WHO) 1 -3 deaths in the U .S. (CDC).

The topic I will explore is heart disease in women. The question, what do healthcare providers need to know about cardiovascular disease in women and how their symptoms and presentation differ from men will be discussed. Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in women and men in the Western world. Nearly 1 million cardiovascular related deaths a year are women. Many women’s risk factors go unrecognized and untreated by their primary care physician (Pregler et al., 2009). According to FamilyDoctor.org, “American women are 4 to 6 times more likely to die of heart disease that of breast cancer” (2009). In generally men have an earlier onset of heart disease than to women but have a higher survival rate from heart

Atherosclerosis is almost worldwide. Although it is hard to estimate how common atherosclerosis is, almost all adults have various parts of the illness. Cardiovascular disease is the single most common cause of illness and death in the developed country accounting for one in three of all deaths! Heart attacks due to coronary artery disease and strokes due to carotid artery disease are responsible for more deaths than all other causes combined. According to statics more than 80,000 people with cardiovascular disease died in 2005, making it the No.1 killer in America. Not only that, but each year in England and Wales, an estimated 124,000 deaths are caused by CVD, where about 39,000 of them occur in people under the age of 75. Due to the continuing obesity prevalent, it is predicted that atherosclerosis will continue to be a major health problem in this country.

     The media today concentrates intently on drug and alcohol abuse, homicides, AIDS, and so on. What a lot of people aren’t realizing is that coronary disease actually accounts for about 80% of sudden deaths. In fact, the number of deaths from heart disease approximately equals to the number of deaths from cancer, chronic lung disease, pneumonia and influenza, and others combined.

Factors that contribute to hypertension are age, ethnicity, gender, and lifestyles as shown in Figure 1 (Yoon, Burt, Louis, & Carroll, 2012). While the prevalence of hypertension is relatively equal among men and women, certain ethnicities have a higher propensity for developing hypertension. The prevalence of hypertension in African-Americans is among the highest in the United States for a single ethnic group (Ferdinand & Armani, 2007). In the United States, around 78% of people suffering from hypertension are aware of their condition, with only 68% using hypertensive medications to control their blood