Blog 10: How does heart disease manifest differently in women than in men? Justify your answers with supporting documentation. What can you do now to prevent heart disease later?

When it comes to heart disease sex does matter; for instance, women experience heart disease differently than men because it is most likely to happen around the time of menopause and after (age 45-58), whereas men experience it earlier in life. The reason it affects menopausal women has to do with the amount of estrogen a women produces during this stage in her life, which is why some Doctors have said that HRT can prevent heart disease. Also women and men experience pain and symptoms differently.  Although the signs and symptoms of a "myocardial infarction (heart attack) is relatively similar in men and women, some symptoms are more prevalent; such as, "Shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting, back and jaw pain....

Some women may not even be aware they are having a heart attack" (Jones, Barlett pg. 280-281). Women are also much more likely to suspect it to be something else other than a heart attack. I believe this is why mortality rate is higher in women than in men, they ignore the signs and do not get treatment as soon as the symptoms start or after. It is also known that women will die within five years of their first heart attack.

Women will recover from strokes faster than men because women use both sides of their brain where as men predominantly use the left side. So if a stroke occurs on the left side of the brain it can be pretty devastating, but women will be able to use the unaffected part of her brain to re learn language and so motor functions.

Sources:

Alexander, L.L., LaRosa, J.H., Bader, H. Garfield, S. (2010).Dimensions in womens's health. (5th ed.0 Sudbury, MA: Jones and Barlett.