This is not a romantic article, on the contrary, it points to a very serious health risk. While one in every 30 women dies from breast cancer, one in three women dies from heart disease.
As women, we are intensively informed about the types of cancer that threaten our health. We started giving our daughters the HPV vaccine to protect against cervical cancer, and we, as adults, look for precursor lesions by having a PAP smear test at least once a year. In breast cancer, it is recommended that we use many early diagnosis methods, from physical examination at home to ultrasound and mammography. Although there is no decrease in cancer cases, early diagnoses are increasing thanks to these measures. However, we overlook another equally important risk: cardiovascular diseases. Thinking that these diseases are specific to men actually puts us women at great risk, because cardiovascular diseases are the number one cause of death in women in the world. It is known that 54 percent of female deaths in Europe are caused by cardiovascular diseases.
Anadolu Health Center Cardiology Specialist Prof. Dr. Nevrez Koylan: “The fact that the age at which these diseases develop in women is a little later makes women more neglected in terms of heart diseases. Another problem is that the symptoms that occur in women do not appear as dramatically as in men. "The belief that their hormones protect them, which is not actually wrong, causes women to neglect themselves," he says.
Smoking, diabetes, high cholesterol, hypertension, obesity and sedentary lifestyle are factors that trigger heart diseases for women and men. common factors. However, there are two more risk factors for women: Menopause and the simultaneous use of birth control pills with smoking... Prof. Dr. Nevrez Koylan said, “The reasons vary depending on the person and other factors. Cardiovascular diseases occur 10 years later in women than in men. The risk increases especially in the post-menopausal period. The reason for this increase is partly due to the disappearance of the protective effects of hormones against hypertension, diabetes, increase in blood lipids, obesity and metabolic syndrome.
If you work, it's stress, if you don't, it's obesity
The fact that working women have double responsibilities at work and at home increases their stress, and this situation increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases in women. It paves the way for it to be seen a lot. Metabolic changes brought about by stress accelerate the formation of arteriosclerosis. Heart rate increases when under stress, blood pressure rises, metabolism starts to work at the highest level, which causes the metabolism to produce more free radicals. When stress becomes chronic, it has negative effects on the cardiovascular system. On the other hand, since the first hormones sacrificed when the body is under stress are sex hormones, it is easier for women's hormonal balance to be affected in case of chronic stress.
The increasing ease of accessing calories and the increasing tendency towards ready-made food cause rapid weight gain, especially in non-working women. . The development of hypertension and diabetes is especially evident in women. This causes heart diseases to be more common in women.
We are ahead of men in obesity
The prevalence of hypertension in women is 30-40 percent higher than in men, and this difference is It increases with increasing age. On the other hand, obesity is more common in women than men. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome (the combination of diabetes, high cholesterol and hypertension) is 27 percent in men and 45 percent in women. All these high rates increase the risk of heart disease in all women to a certain extent. When menopause is added to these, the fat distribution in the body is negatively affected and the structure of blood fats changes, triggering heart diseases.
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