(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — During American Heart Month, local doctors are urging women to prioritize their heart health.
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Cardiologist at Northwestern Medicine Dr. Priya Freaney said women could be more at risk for heart disease than they might think.
"Traditionally, heart disease has been thought of many, culturally or otherwise, as a problem in men, but we know that heart disease is very prevalent in women and very important to focus on."
She says in fact, it's the leading cause of death in women in the United States. There are specific risk factors for women that don't exist for men.
"One is pregnancy related complications. There's also hormonal related risk factors for women, often, a really concentrated period of accelerating cardiovascular risk is menopause."
She encourages women to educate themselves on risk factors and engage with doctors to see if treatment is needed.
"Heart disease in women is largely preventable. We can modify the trajectory of heart disease risk. We can get ahead of this."
Dr. Freaney said heart disease accounts for 1 in 4 deaths in women in the United States. She says prevention can start with lifestyle measures.
"One is moving your body. The American Heart Association says that we should all be getting 150 minutes of cardiovascular exercise a week. Number two, lots of lean proteins, lots of vegetables, whole grains, etc, and avoiding sort of lot of bready sweets, fried snacks, things like that. And number three is avoiding excess alcohol and tobacco smoke."
She also encourages women to keep track of their numbers for risk factors and engage with their doctors.
"We see women early and start having a conversation about what are their risk factors, and how can we modify those and help women take charge of their own health and their own cardiovascular trajectories."
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