Women May Learn Heart Attack Risk After Treadmill ExerciseStudy Shows Poor Performance Linked To Heart Problems< October 1, 2003 >A brief exercise test can identify seemingly problem-free women who are at high risk for heart attack and stroke, says a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association. While exercise testing is known to help single out men at high risk for cardiovascular diseases, there has been controversy about its value for women. But a just-published 20-year study by physicians at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions finds two measures of physical performance can spot potential problems in apparently healthy women. Those two measures are simple endurance - how long a woman can keep walking as the speed of a treadmill increases - and the rate at which the heart returns to normal after the 30 minutes or less of exercise, the report says. Study Findings Significant, Authors SayThe study included nearly 3,000 women who had no signs of heart disease and were followed for two decades. Those who ranked below the median (midpoint of the test scores) were 3.5 times more likely to suffer a cardiovascular death than those in the upper half. Does the study mean every woman should have an exercise test as part of her physical examination? Dr. Roger S. Blumenthal and colleagues at the Hopkins Ciccarone Preventive Cardiology Center stop short of that. "Our study suggests that an exercise test can provide a good prospective into the cardiovascular risk of women whose capacity is below normal or who have a slow return rate," Dr. Blumenthal says. "This should be a consideration, but it is still up to the individual doctor to determine whether an exercise test should be done." The message for women, he says, is that "they have to realize that if they have a low level of physical capacity, they can improve their performance and improve their cardiovascular health with regular exercise." Expert Favors Testing WomenDr. Nieca Goldberg, chief of women's cardiovascular care at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City and a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association (AHA) says, "There has been a lot of controversy about the value of exercise testing in women. Not until this week has there been convincing evidence about its value. "We are always looking for things that tell about heart risk in women," Dr. Goldberg says. "This test is readily available and cost-effective." The AHA and other health organizations have been trying to get women to pay more attention to the risk of cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in US women and men. Women who should have an exercise test include those with heart disease, Dr. Goldberg says. But so should symptom-free women "who have multiple risk factors, such as obesity, smoking, or diabetes, those who are totally sedentary and are over 50, and those who are thinking of starting an exercise program," she says. Poor results on the exercise test should prompt a woman to start a program of regular exercise, under a physician's supervision, Dr. Goldberg says. And they should also serve as a warning sign that "it is time to start paying attention to all the risk factors, keeping blood pressure under control, lowering cholesterol, and not smoking," she says. A brisk half-hour walk every day can be enough to promote heart health for many people, cardiologists say. Always consult your physician for more information. Online Resources(Our Organization is not responsible for the content of Internet sites.) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Women's Health Information Center US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
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For more information on health and wellness, please visit health information modules on this Web site. Women and Heart DiseaseIt is a myth that heart disease is a man's disease. In fact, cardiovascular diseases are the number one killer of women. These diseases currently claim the lives of more than a half a million females every year - more than the next 16 causes of death combined. In 64 percent of women who died suddenly from cardiovascular disease, there were no previous symptoms of the disease. Consider the following statistics about cardiovascular disease in women from the American Heart Association:
Women at risk from inherited (genetic) factors include:
Women at risk from acquired risk factors include:
A heart attack can happen to anyone - it is only when the time is taken to learn which of the risk factors applies, can an individual then take steps to eliminate or reduce them. Always consult your physician for more information. |
