Menopause and Women's Heart Health
Menopause is a time when the risk for developing heart disease increases. Women who are experiencing menopausal symptoms receive comprehensive cardiac risk assessments designed specifically for them, as well as personalized medical therapies and counseling.
Each woman who comes to UH Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute's Women's Cardiovascular Center completes a comprehensive questionnaire that includes her heart risk factors as well as her own menopausal symptoms. This personalized medicine approach enables her doctors to tailor a treatment plan that is uniquely hers, based on her medical history, risk factors and symptoms.
Breast Cancer and Women's Heart Health
UH Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute's Women's Cardiovascular Center also specializes in the cardiac evaluation of women who have experienced breast cancer. The risk of heart disease increases for women who have received radiation therapy to the chest or have transitioned rapidly into menopause as a result of chemotherapy. Close surveillance and aggressive risk factor treatment is necessary.
Pregnancy and Women's Heart Health
When a woman is pregnant, the volume of blood in her body rises, and her heart has to work harder. Her cholesterol also may go up about 30 percent, according to a study in Circulation journal. While these changes don't seem to affect long-term heart health, some changes can be serious.
High blood sugar, or gestational diabetes, can lead to complications during pregnancy and raise the risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life. Type 2 diabetes, in turn, increases future risk for heart disease.
Another concern is high blood pressure. If a woman has high blood pressure during pregnancy, it could harm her kidneys and other organs. It also might cause her to deliver her baby early.
High blood pressure, along with protein in the urine, also is a mark of a more serious risk: preeclampsia. This condition occurs frequently in women who are older than age 40 and women who had high blood pressure before they were pregnant. Preeclampsia raises the risk for pregnancy complications, including stillbirth, and can double a woman's risk for heart disease and stroke.
UH Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute's Women's Cardiovascular Center, in collaboration with a woman's physician, can develop a treatment plan to keep her and her baby as healthy as possible if she is diagnosed with high blood pressure or high blood sugar during pregnancy.