Taking care of yourself and putting yourself first
By Poornima Sood, M.D., MPhil
Many of us know what the pink ribbon stands for, but how many of us know as much about the red dress pin? As one of the leaders of the newly formed Abbott Vascular Women’s Heart Health Initiative, it has been astounding for me to learn over the past several months about the severity of the challenges women face with respect to cardiovascular disease (CVD).
Nearly every minute, a woman dies of heart disease in the United States. “Heart disease is the number one cause of death among women in the United States, taking the lives of more women than the next five causes of death combined, including breast cancer,” said Chuck Simonton, M.D., chief medical officer, Abbott Vascular. And every year since 1984, more women than men have died of cardiovascular disease.(1)
Building Awareness
Awareness continues to be an issue, with only 55% (although up from 37% in 1997) of women identifying cardiovascular disease as the leading cause of death.(2)
This lack of awareness may be attributed to the fact that diagnosis of CVD in women is more challenging than in men, as women typically exhibit different symptoms than men because their symptoms are more gradual and subtle. Rather than the more “typical” symptoms, such as sudden violent chest pain, or uncomfortable pressure that are more common in men, women may experience other, more vague warning signs, particularly shortness of breath, dizziness, nausea, indigestion, vomiting, unexplained fatigue and back, shoulder blade or jaw pain.(3)
Women’s Heart Health Initiative
I have been a physician for more than 10 years with a special interest in cardiovascular research, and have had the honor of working at Abbott Vascular for the last eight years. But never have I been more proud to be a part of the Abbott Vascular Women’s Heart Health Initiative—a program that is so important to us, our friends, sisters, mothers, and the husbands, fathers, brothers, and friends who count on our well-being.
Ground Breaking Studies
We saw an opportunity to combine some stand-alone efforts into something much more powerful. And very ambitious. Our goal over the next few years with our Women’s Heart Health Initiative is to educate physicians about the symptoms and optimal care for women, and also to reach out to the general female population.
We are definitely not starting from scratch and have great strengths to leverage. Currently, through our six worldwide SPIRIT clinical trials, we have research data following approximately 6,000 female patients who have been treated for coronary artery disease. This includes SPIRIT Women, the world’s first trial to prospectively study coronary artery disease exclusively in women.
Although SPIRIT Women is an international study, we’re currently looking at potential clinical research that we can undertake to further our initiative in the United States and have created a dedicated physician advisory board on women’s cardiovascular health to make sure we get it right.
As a leader in cardiovascular health, we are partnering with the American Heart Association (AHA) in the Bay Area to raise awareness about heart disease through the Go Red For Women program. During the month of February, volunteers from the Abbott Vascular chapter of Women Leaders in Action (WLA), the company’s employee network for the advancement of women, along with the AHA helped organize numerous events locally, such as the lighting of the San Jose City Hall Rotunda, and passing out educational tip sheets at the Powell Street trolley car turnaround in San Francisco.
So while we at Abbott Vascular are working on advancing the science, we hope that you will continue caring for yourself. Women need to hear that heart disease is the number one killer of women, and commit today to put themselves first when it comes to heart disease.
As a mother of two, I know as well as you that women multi-task and juggle between their work and family commitments. However, there are simple things that we can do that can add up to make a huge difference in terms of our heart health.
Please read the print issue for the Heart Healthy Tips for women that our chief medical officer Dr. Chuck Simonton has put together for you, and visit the links below to learn more. Because we owe it to ourselves.
Resources
Learn more about this subject by visiting these websites:
Go Red for Women
www.goredforwomen.org
Women, Heart Disease and Stroke, the American Heart Association
www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4786
American Heart Association
www.americanheart.org
HeartHealthyWomen
www.hearthealthywomen.org
(1) CDC/NCHS
(2) Circulation. 2006;113:525-534 doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.105.588103
(3) World Heart Federation
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