heart
disease: the No. 1 killer of women By Linda Gilchriest
“Once you identify your risk factors, you have to take the appropriate measures to fight them.”
J
udy Blackburn was stunned and frustrated. She had always considered herself to be healthy. Yes, she had diabetes, but she kept it under control, and she watched her calories. She and her daughter even climbed a mountain together in Arizona. Imagine her surprise when a simple heart screening test came back with a red flag that translated into a 95 percent blockage in one of the arteries in her heart. “I was shocked,” says Blackburn, a billing rep at a local ambulance service for more than 15 years. “I monitor my diabetes, and I’m a lifetime member of Weight Watchers,” the Tomball resident says. “To earn lifetime status, you must control your weight to within just pounds of your goal.” Dr. Valentina Ugolini, a cardiologist with the Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center, says that while Blackburn might appear to be the picture of health to most of us, she is fairly representative of the female heart patient who does not show the traditional symptoms of coronary disease. Heart disease in women often does not present with the same symptoms as in men. In many cases, there are no shooting pains down the left arm or grabbing pain on the left side of the chest. Ugolini says the symptoms can be as subtle as fatigue or have the characteristics of indigestion. Also, women are not aware that they are at the same risk as men of having a heart attack. “Heart disease is the No. 1 killer for women, but most women are surprised by this,” says Ugolini, who is board certified in internal medicine and cardiology, and
Heart patient Judy Blackburn
Volume 5, number 4 I 7
