Young and middle-aged women do not always experience chest pain, one of the most common symptoms of heart attack, according to a new study.  “We need to move away from the image of an older man clutching his chest, when we think about acute coronary syndrome,” which includes heart attacks and angina, study researcher Dr. Louise Pilote, director of the Division of General Internal Medicine at McGill University Health Centre, says. “The reality is that chest pain, age and gender are no longer the definers of a heart attack.

"Even though chest pain was the most common symptom of heart attack in both sexes, researchers found that one in five women age 55 and younger didn’t experience chest pain with their heart attack. Plus, women in general were less likely to experience chest pain from heart attack than men.

"The researchers also did not find a correlation between the experience of chest pain and the severity of the heart attack.
Apart from chest pain (uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain in the center of the chest), the most common symptoms women experience during a heart attack are:

• Pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach
• Shortness of breath, with or without chest discomfort
• Other signs such as breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness

Our study demonstrates that young people and women who come into the emergency without chest pain, but other telltale symptoms such as weakness, shortness of breath and/or rapid heartbeats, are in crisis,” Pilote says. “We need to be able to recognize this and adapt to new standard assessments in previously unrecognized groups such as young women.”* more

 

Note: If you think you are having a heart attack, chew an uncoated adult-strength aspirin right away and head to the emergency room. It’s best to call 9-1-1. Get care as fast as you can. Time lost equals heart muscle lost, so don’t delay.  Once in the emergency room, you may need to insist on being tested to rule out heart attack.  If you are not comfortable with the diagnosis such as "anxiety" or "indigestion", and you feel you are NOT SAFE being discharged, ask to see a cardiologist, and ask to remain in the hospital to be monitored for 24 hours. It is your right to receive proper care!

Young and middle-aged women with depression are more than twice as likely to suffer a heart attack or die from heart disease as their mentally healthy peers, new research suggests.

The study also found that women younger than 55 are more likely than men or older women to become depressed.
Exactly what accounts for this relationship between mood disorder and heart disease in younger women isn’t clear, said study lead author Dr. Amit Shah, an assistant professor of epidemiology with the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta.
“These kinds of relationships are very complicated, and we’re still investigating to better understand the reason,” he said.
Still, the results fit into the “bigger picture,” Shah added.

“We have known for some time that heart disease is actually the number one killer in women, and that heart disease does start at an early age,” he said. “And it could be that younger women have neurobiological differences or hormonal differences that make them respond to acute mental stress differently than men or older women.”
This could mean that when they have depression, they also have an elevated risk for heart disease, Shah said.

An association between depression and greater risk of death from heart disease was not seen among women over 55 or among men as a whole, the researchers noted.

A woman’s lifetime risk for developing heart disease is upwards of 50 percent, according to background information in the study, published online June 18 in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

To explore the link between depression and heart risk, the team followed more than 3,200 men and women diagnosed with heart disease or suspected of having it between 2003 and 2010. Patients’ average age was nearly 63, and one-third were women. All of the study participants were scheduled for an arterial X-ray (a coronary angiography) to assess the presence of arterial disease. After three years of follow-up, the investigators determined that women aged 55 and younger were the most likely to have struggled with moderate or severe depression.

The researchers found that 27 percent of them were clinically depressed. By contrast, depression was cited among just 9 percent of men 65 and older. And while depression didn’t appear related to heart disease risk among men of any age or elderly women, the team found that among women 55 and younger, every one-point rise in depression symptom ratings translated into a 7 percent rise in heart disease risk. That meant that depressed young and middle-aged women faced a 2.17 times greater risk for experiencing a heart attack, or for needing an invasive procedure to widen their diseased arterial pathways.

The same women also faced similar elevated risk for dying from heart disease, and a 2.45 greater risk for dying from any cause during the study follow-up period. full article

 

Acereel Studios in Glenside, PA gave a shout out to their SMOOCHES Models to pose for a photo shoot in order to give heart health messages to women. Wearing their red level best, SMOOCHES serve as the faces of women at risk for heart disease. These gals are giving a “Heads Up” to wear RED February 6.  Thank you, SMOOCHES, and a big THANKS to Chante and Daryl of Acereel for making this happen!

 

"Statins are a blessing and a curse because they do incredibly good things, but they can do bad things.  The problem with the Statin is you don’t want to choose a Statin to lower a cholesterol number. To me, that’s bad medicine, and here’s why. Statins can have horrific side effects. I’ve seen side-effects across the board. I’ve seen weakness of the limb, weakness of the hand. I’ve seen a pre-Alzheimer’s condition where people forget who they are – literally amnesia. I’ve seen difficulty with vision, liver problems, kidney problems, poly-neuropathy.

“Do I use a Statin in certain individuals? Of course. Statins are a potent anti-inflammatory agent and they make the blood less viscous.
I like to order Statins for men with a low HDL and (the presence of) coronary calcium, who are between the ages 50-75. After age 75, I don’t see the usefulness of Statins because of memory loss side-effect. A low HDL makes the blood more viscous, more like red ketchup, and that’s why a man with a low HDL is more prone to heart disease.

“I use Statins in people with advanced coronary disease, a person with a high calcium score of over 200, anyone who has had angioplasty, heart attack, bypass surgery or a stent. Yes, I do use Statins in women, but only in women with advanced coronary disease, women with diabetes, high C-reactive protein, women regressing and getting more and more symptomatic. In general, I am not impressed with use of Statins in women as I am for use in middle -aged men, ages 50-75. In any of my patients on a Statin, male or female, I always order Co Q10 because the Statin wipes out this enzyme and CoQ10 is a potent nutrient to protect your immune system.

 “Do I order a Statin to treat high cholesterol? No. I don’t use Statin for this, I intervene with lifestyle changes instead.

View full  TALK by Dr. Stephen Sinatra on youtube

 

No need to seek out an Asian market to make this wonderfully crisp and flavorful salad—all the ingredients are available at larger supermarkets. Serve in smaller portions for a first course.

PREP TIME: 15 minutes
TOTAL TIME: 25 minutes
SERVINGS: 4

1 boneless beef strip steak (1½ inches thick), about 10 oz
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Dressing
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp fish sauce or light soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp seeded and minced Thai or red serrano chile

Salad
1 c thinly sliced radishes
1 sml red onion, thinly sliced, rinsed and drained
1 med kirby cucumber, unpeeled, thinly sliced
¼ c fresh mint leaves, coarsley chopped
10 lg basil leaves, slivered
4 c slivered romaine lettuce hearts (small inner leaves can be left whole), about 2 hearts

1. SEASON steak generously on both sides with salt and pepper. Grill or pan-fry in a lightly oiled skillet over medium-high heat, 4 to 5 minutes per side (steak is best rare to medium and still pink in the center). Set aside and keep warm. 
2. WHISK together dressing ingredients in a large bowl; remove 1 tablespoon and set aside. Add the salad ingredients and toss well with dressing. Arrange on a large platter. 
3. SLICE steak thinly crosswise against the grain; toss with reserved 1 tablespoon dressing. Arrange on top of salad and serve immediately.

NUTRITION (per serving) 151 cal, 18 g pro, 9 g carb, 3 g fiber, 4.9 g fat, 1.7 g sat fat, 341 mg sodium