Prime Time Living 9.24.25 - Flipbook - Page 13
A Special Advertising Section of Baltimore Sun Media Group | Wednesday, September 24, 2025 13
for sex differences. The law also established the Office of Research on Women’s
Health (ORWH) within the NIH and gave
it the authority to monitor the inclusion of
women in the NIH’s clinical research.
The Status of Women and Heart
Disease
Is medical care for women with heart
disease better than it was? Yes. But it
could only go up. Heart disease kills more
women at all ages than breast cancer.
Today, about a third of women have will
have symptoms not recognized as heart
disease.
C. Noel Bairey Merz, M.D., says that
women don’t experience the “Hollywood”
version of a heart attack, grabbing their
left arm and clutching their chest. A man
is rushed to the hospital, they do an EKG,
and the doctor sees findings indicative of
an obstructive plaque, likely a big clot, in
the coronary artery. A catheter is inserted
and breaks up the clot, places a stent, and
the man lives.
“Some women’s heart attacks are
like this—about 30 percent—but not the
majority. When a woman has a heart
attack, it can be more subtle. And that’s
where the divergence in women and heart
disease starts. In medical school, I was
taught that what happens to a man is
the standard, but women don’t present
like that. Their symptoms, their pains, are
gradual, and more often caused by plaque
erosion, causing smaller clots that travel
downstream and cause heart damage.
Men’s plaque explodes; women’s erodes.
Finally, cardiologists are learning this.”
Dr. Bairey Merz has been the
Chairperson of the WISE project at the
National Institutes of Health since its
inception in 1997. The Women’s Ischemia
Syndrome Evaluation is still informing cardiologists about differences in male and
female ischemic heart disease.
“Ischemic heart disease is heart damage caused by narrowed heart arteries.
This is also called coronary artery disease
and coronary heart disease. When arteries narrow, less blood and oxygen reach
the heart muscle. This can lead to heart
attack.
“Ischemia can cause chest pain or dis-
comfort known as angina pectoris. Other
symptoms can include:
• Pain in upper body
• Shortness of breath
• Sweating
• Indigestion that may feel like heartburn
• Nausea or vomiting
• Dizziness or lightheadedness
• Fast or irregular heartbeat
“Ischemia is most likely to happen
when:
• Your heart needs more oxygen and
nutrients than it’s getting
• Your heart can’t keep up with the
body’s increased demand for blood
“Many people have ischemic episodes
without knowing it or having pain. This is
called silent ischemia. They may have a
heart attack with no warning. People with
angina (chest pain) may also have undiagnosed episodes of silent ischemia. For
more information, visit the American Heart
Association: https://www.heart.org/en/
health-topics/heart-attack/about-heartattacks/silent-ischemia-and-ischemicheart-disease
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“Women think the signs of a heart
attack are unmistakable. But the signs
may not be obvious and might be confusing. Even when the signs are subtle, the
outcomes can be deadly, especially if the
person doesn’t get help right away.”
Chest pain is still the most recognizable symptom: uncomfortable pressure,
squeezing, fullness or pain in the center
of your chest. It may last more than a few
minutes or go away and come back. You
could also have pain in other areas:
• Arms (one or both)
• Back
• Neck
• Jaw
• Stomach
• Shortness of breath with or without
chest discomfort.
Other signs may include breaking out
in a cold sweat, nausea, and/or lightheadedness.
Some women having a heart attack
describe upper back pressure that feels
like squeezing or a rope being tied around
Women and Heart Disease
Continued on page 24
