As a woman, it is worth knowing what can increase the risk of heart disease. Focus on your heart and take a long hard look at your lifestyle habits. If you have habits that might be putting you at greater risk, make some changes now. You are not too young or too old, whatever your age.

General guidelines for women
As they get older, more women than men develop high blood pressure, which increases the risk of having a heart attack or a stroke. Get your blood pressure checked regularly. Aim for a healthy weight. Exercise. Reduce your salt intake and eat lots of fruit and vegetables. If you drink alcohol, drink sensibly.

Get active
Only one in three women exercise enough to keep their hearts healthy, a proportion that gets smaller and smaller above the age of 50. Whatever your age, fit some physical activity into your daily routine. You don't have to do it all at once. Just build it up so you are exercising for 30 minutes on at least five days of the week. The following guidelines generally apply.

Cholesterol levels
Two out of three women have total blood cholesterol levels that measure 5mmol/l or more. Total blood cholesterol is a measurement of both LDL and HDL cholesterol in your blood.

Levels of total and 'bad' LDL cholesterol tend to increase with age, while levels of the 'good' HDL cholesterol decrease, especially after menopause.
Eat a healthy heart diet, low in saturated fat and rich in fibre.
Include lots of fruit and vegetables every day and oily fish at least twice a week. Your weight, whether you smoke and your level of activity will also affect your blood cholesterol levels.

Smoking
Smoking can more than double the risk of heart disease because of the harmful chemicals in tobacco. Women who both smoke and take the contraceptive pill, especially if over the age of 35, increase their risk of heart disease even more. Stop for your heart's sake.

Weight and shape
A woman is designed to have more body fat than a man. That is just the way it is.
What really matters is where the fat is laid down. Curvy hips might cause concern for some women but, from a heart's viewpoint, pear-shaped is better than apple-shaped.

Fat around the waist increases the risk of intra-abdominal fat, which leads to unhealthy cholesterol levels, insulin resistance and an increased risk of developing Type2 diabetes.
As women grow older, they are more likely to have a combination of several risk factors, which substantially multiplies their risk of developing heart disease.
Simple lifestyle changes can keep those risk factors at bay and the sooner you start, the better. The early stages of 'furring up' of the arteries (atherosclerosis), which can lead to heart disease can start before your 20s.

Diabetes
Women with Type2 diabetes are more at risk of heart disease than men because they often have other risk factors for heart disease.
You are more likely to get Type 2 diabetes if you are overweight, apple-shaped and have a family history of diabetes.

prof@cardiacclinic.co.bw