"What has terrified women for years is breast and other cancers, so women have adequate awareness and acceptance of screening for cancer." Dr. Keller explained, "Although cancer is important, it is hard to get them thinking about screening beyond that. It is not just the lay public we need to reach about this problem--it is the medical community as well." Dr. Keller spoke today at an American Medical Association media briefing on cardiology in New York City.
Health care for women has long focused on screening for breast, ovarian, cervical and other cancers, yet what many people do not know is that the number one killer of women over the age of 45 in the United States is heart disease. The statistics are not new--heart disease has been the number one killer of women for 100 years. It kills 65,000 more women than men, taking the lives of younger women (under 45) as well as older women at alarming rates.
"We thought hormones have a protective effect on women's hearts, but it turns out they do not," Dr. Keller said. "The hormone replacement therapy data has been really disappointing." Increasing obesity rates in both U.S. men and women are adding to the problem, and many women have plaque buildup, an early sign of cardiovascular disease, at an early age.
Screening for heart disease, Dr. Keller explained, involves identifying potential risk factors such as smoking, obesity, high cholesterol, diabetes, high blood pressure and family history of heart disease, and then performing stress test and coronary angiogram when appro
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Contact: Kenneth McMillan
kenneth.mcmillan@med.nyu.edu
212-404-3694
American Medical Association
13-May-2004