Women's Heart Program

We are committed to the prevention, detection and treatment of all types of heart disease with special interest and expertise in addressing the concerns and risks of women.

Learn How to Handle Your Heart

According to the American Heart Association (AHA), a heart-healthy lifestyle can reduce your risk of heart disease. Here is a list of important things you can do to keep your heart strong and working efficiently:

A low-fat, cholesterol diet; saturated fats and cholesterol in foods can raise your cholesterol level, a strong risk factor for heart disease.
Get regular exercise; you are twice as likely to develop heart disease if you are inactive than if you exercise regularly. Exercise that increases your heart rate – such as brisk walking, swimming – lowers your blood pressure and cholesterol level, and strengthens your heart so that it can pump more blood with less effort.
Maintain a healthy weight. Being overweight increases your risk of high blood pressure and diabetes, two important risk factors for heart disease. If you are 20 percent or more over your ideal weight, you are putting your health in danger. This is particularly true if your body shape is such that you carry excess weight around your waist.
Do NOT smoke cigarettes. If you smoke, QUIT. Smoking dramatically increases your risk of heart disease.

Heart Disease in Women

Did you know that heart disease is the number one killer of American women? And that heart disease kills more women than men each year? In fact, cardiovascular disease kills more women each year than all other cancers combined. Each year in this country alone, 500,000 women suffer an acute heart attack, and 250,000 women will die of heart disease. Women are known to take a longer time to go to the hospital when they have heart attacks. When they arrive, they may receive less aggressive treatment.

Researchers believe that because women suffer more atypical symptoms during a heart attack then do men, they may not immediately realize they are having a heart attack, therefore explaining the longer time seeking medical treatment. Women are more likely than men to describe heart attack pain as a sharp discomfort, a gas pain, a pain in the neck or a toothache or pains in the arms rather than a pain in the center of the chest. So women, take heart – the time to act is now. Are you paying attention to your heart?

Women and Heart Attack Symptoms

Women demonstrate their symptoms differently from men, and sometimes they are not recognized. Symptoms of women with cardiac distress could be:

Uncomfortable pressure of the chest, neck or throat
Dizziness
Palpitations
Shortness of breath
Fatigue

Women may not even experience chest pain. Be sure to examine your risk factors for heart attack. These risk factors include:

Family history of sudden death or heart attack before age 60
Smoking
Diabetes
High Blood Pressure
Abnormal Cholesterol
Postmenopausal Status
Cocaine use
Overweight

Remember, to be at risk you don’t have to have all of these risk factors. If you have questions or concerns, be sure to contact your doctor.

Women’s Heart Program Offerings

Risk factor screenings and heart disease risk assessments
Education
Lifestyle modification and medications, when needed
State-of-the-art diagnostic procedures

Are you at risk? Take the Heart Health Quiz to find out.

Follow the links below for more information:

Now Accepting New Patients.
Most Insurances Accepted.

Please call for an appointment.
Phone: 410-332-9754
Tollfree: 1-800-MD-Mercy (1-800-636-3729)