Women's Heart Health Program Video Transcript
The following text is a transcript of a video on women's heart health.
D. Brent Simons, MD, Cardiology:
Heart disease in women is actually very common. It’s the #1 killer of woman, just as it is in men and we know that 1 out of 9 under age 45 can have heart disease. But as they age and get over age 65, 1 in 3 woman can have heart disease. So it’s important to catch them early, look at their risk factors early, and try to improve the chances of them developing heart disease later.
Bernice Kolb, MD, Internal Medicine:
In woman the signs and symptoms of heart disease can be similar to the symptoms that men experience but they can also be unique.
Sometimes it is simply just a sensation of heartburn in the chest.
Sometimes alone women will get, with exertion, discomfort in the left shoulder or left jaw. So in women, these symptoms can be more subtle.
Dr. Brent Simons:
Women participating in the Women’s Heart Health program would benefit by learning about their risk factors, are they at risk for heart disease, and if they are, how to improve their risks.
Jan Sjostrand, RN, Women’s Heart Health Program Coordinator
When a woman comes into the Women’s Heart Health Program, we look at what is happening in her family, what kind of risk factors are there. Also, we do blood tests and then we will be doing education. There are five visits that we do. First visit is collecting the data. The second one is going over those risk factors and setting goals and then followup for the rest of the year.
Dr. Kolb:
This program can be done in partnership with one’s primary care physician. That physician may not have enough time to spend on specific education about cardiac disease in a busy office appointment. This program provides one-on-one interaction and education for an entire year.
Ann Fitch, Women’s Heart Health Program Participant:
There is heart disease in families. My mother had it quite seriously all her life and my brothers and sisters all have some heart problems of one kind or another, and so it seemed... I knew it was time to do something.
Jan Sjostrand, RN:
In making this program individualized, we are looking at what the woman wants to change. It is not our goals. It is the woman’s goals, so there are a lot of areas that we can make changes in: in the way you eat, your exercise program, your stress level, how you sleep. So there is not just one thing that we can help the woman change on. We take very small steps in setting goals so the woman can attain those goals, and the next time, we set more goals. The woman’s program has been very successful. Each time a woman comes back, we see some successes and some that maybe we need to modify, but every woman has had a success.
Ann Fitch:
Most women think of the rest of the family before they think of their own health. We get busy and we tend to put things off. To stop and think about your own health is a good thing because I don’t think that most women are aware that as they get older their risk for heart disease goes up dramatically.
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