Lori Sepich smoked for years and sometimes skipped taking her blood pressure medicine. But she never thought she’d have a heart attack.
The possibility “just wasn’t registering with me,” said the 64-year-old from Memphis, Tennessee, who suffered two of them 13 years apart.
She’s far from alone. More than 60 million women in the U.S. live with cardiovascular disease, which includes heart disease as well as stroke, heart failure and atrial fibrillation. And despite the myth that heart attacks mostly strike men, women are vulnerable too.
Overall in the U.S., 1 in 5 women dies of cardiovascular disease each year, 37,000 of them from heart attacks.
Cardiovascular disease is “the No. 1 killer of women. It will affect you or someone you know,” said Dr. Sharonne Hayes, a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. “Knowing what to do if you have symptoms of a heart attack and taking action if you do, that’s really important.”
There are several ways anyone can reduce their risks.
The American Heart Association has created a list called “Life’s Essential 8”: eat better, quit tobacco, get healthy sleep, be more active, control cholesterol, and manage weight, blood sugar and blood pressure.
Dr. Stacey Rosen, association president, advises getting regular checkups to talk about these preventive measures, keep tabs on your health and discuss any family history of heart problems.
Doctors also suggest discussing risk factors that uniquely or disproportionately affect women.
Women are more likely to have autoimmune conditions like lupus or rheumatoid arthritis, which cause inflammation that can raise heart disease risk. They’re also more likely to suffer from depression, which is associated with inflammation and unhealthy behaviors like staying in bed.
Other conditions associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease are a history of high blood pressure or diabetes while pregnant, miscarriages or stillbirth. Hot flashes and night sweats during menopause have also been linked to a greater risk of high blood pressure and other cardiovascular risk factors.
When people think about heart attacks, many envision a middle-aged man suddenly clutching his heart and falling to the ground.
But in reality, Hayes said, “it’s not going to probably be one of those Hollywood heart attacks.”
Chest pain or discomfort is a usual symptom, but far from the only one.
“What’s different about women is that they are more likely than men to have other symptoms as well,” Rosen said.
