Pro g r e s s N ote s
HEART HEALTH FOR WOMEN The Lundquist Lurie Cardiovascular Institute’s New Women’s Heart Health Clinic focuses on specialized care for women in the South Bay. WRITTEN BY LAURA ROE STEVENS
The Lundquist Lurie Cardiovascular Institute’s newly opened Women’s Heart Health Clinic provides up-to-date comprehensive care for women in the South Bay.
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eart disease is the leading cause of death for women in America—striking 1 in 5 females each year. While cardiovascular disease (CVD) was thought to predominately afflict men, we now know women are equally at risk. However, women have different risk factors than men and unique CVD symptoms that are often not taken into consideration. Understanding these differences is critical because gender inequities still exist in the diagnosis and treatment of heart disease. For some conditions, women may be undertreated when compared to their male counterparts. Focused, specialized care is necessary to address this disparity and the unique concerns of our female population. “When we founded the cardiovascular institute in 2006, I began planning women’s heart-healthy conferences straightaway because
women are simply not aware their symptoms for heart disease are different from men,” says Melanie Lundquist, a philanthropist who, along with husband Richard, established the Lundquist Lurie Cardiovascular Institute. “We have hosted four conferences thus far, and frankly women are still not aware what the symptoms [of female heart disease] are. And if they have been made aware, they often disregard them.” Melanie is passionate that the symptoms of female heart disease—numbness; wrist, neck or back pain; indigestion, nausea and vomiting— need to be posted at every doctor’s office in the nation until they are fully recognized by women. “I have many examples of friends who disregarded symptoms that led to heart attacks,” she shares. “Women need to take these symptoms seriously and let someone drive them to the emergency room if they are experiencing them.
