Heart disease is leading cause of death in men, women in Texas
AUSTIN, Texas - February is American Heart Month in the U.S.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women in Texas. Cases of heart disease in adults increased by 23% between 2021 and 2022.
Dr. Vivek Goswami, a cardiologist with Heart Hospital of Austin and Austin Heart, joined FOX 7 Austin's Rebecca Thomas to discuss.
Austin Family: Heart disease in women
This month, Austin Family magazine is highlighting Heart Health Month. Heart disease is currently the leading cause of death among women in the United States, and heart disease accounts for 20 percent of female deaths, the CDC says. Alison Bogle joins us with more.
Rebecca Thomas: Dr. Goswami, what are some of the major risk factors for heart disease?
Dr. Vivek Goswami: Yeah, so when we talk about conventional heart disease, things like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, a family history of heart disease, diabetes, smoking, poor diet, poor exercise habits, and really age. And just being human more than anything are conventional risk factors of heart disease.
Rebecca Thomas: Let's talk about screening and how important that is in detecting this early on.
Dr. Vivek Goswami: Yeah, sure. So, I think conventionally we've had a very reactive mindset when it comes to heart disease. We wait for people to have heart attacks. And then, if we're able, we place stents and perform bypass surgery and various other procedures. You know, for most people, 60% of the time, the first symptom of heart disease is a bad one. So, six out of ten times someone's sitting at home eating dinner with their family, feeling fine. And the next morning, sudden cardiac death and acute myocardial infarction. So if we don't make it to the hospital in time to utilize all of these great technological advances, we might as well live in 200 years ago. So, with that in mind, it's imperative that we get ahead of this. And screening is of the utmost importance. The day before someone has a fatal heart attack, they feel fine. So we really, really have to get ahead of it. And when people are feeling well, that's when we should be screening in advance to see where we stand. We should be keeping people healthy, not wait until they get sick and then try to retroactively try to fix us.
Rebecca Thomas: And much of the screening is so simple, you know, checking cholesterol, your blood pressure.
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Dr. Vivek Goswami: Correct, it is. And I think many people that go to their doctor on an annual basis will get things like their cholesterol and blood pressure checked in labs and blood sugars. You know, oftentimes, although these conventional risk factors can increase the risk of heart disease, there's not necessarily a 1 to 1 correlate. So it's possible for people to have high blood pressure but not have heart disease. And conversely, which is oftentimes, you know, much more scary. There are people who have normal cholesterol, normal blood pressure, they don't have a family history, and they can still have heart disease. It's analogous to say some people can speed while they're driving. The risk of getting in a car accident is higher, but it's not necessarily a 1 to 1 correlate. And conversely, some people who are driving the speed limit and are very safe drivers, could still get into car accidents. So the key is to screen for the disease, not just the risk of disease. There's no better marker of risk of heart disease than direct visualization. So I often recommend a screening calcium score to look for plaque in the heart arteries, screening for vascular screens. So look for early signs of plaque in the carotid. Subdermal I think these can tell a very important story. Not just in a lab test, but in the person sitting in front of us. And it's a way to personalize our risk stratification methods.
Rebecca Thomas: Final question. Let's talk about heart attacks and symptoms of heart attacks because they are different or can be different in men and women.
Dr. Vivek Goswami: They certainly can. So I think when we talk about conventional symptoms of heart disease, it's often referred to as chest discomfort, often described as a heaviness or pressure right in the center of the chest. Often, oftentimes, it can radiate to the left arm or jaw. It could be associated with shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting. Oftentimes, the symptoms get worse with exertion and are relieved with rest. These are very classic signs of a heart attack. Elephant sitting on the chest. And as you mentioned, oftentimes, women, unfortunately, can have very subtle or atypical, signs or symptoms of heart disease. So, sometimes women can just present with isolated back pain, throat discomfort, fatigue, just shortness of breath, just nausea. So the symptoms can be atypical or subtle. And we combine that with sometimes not having as much acknowledgment of risk, which can delay time for very critical treatment. And, that's thought to be one of the many theories why women do worse when they experience a heart attack when compared to men.
Rebecca Thomas: All right. So if you feel off, see a doctor.
Dr. Vivek Goswami: That's right.
Rebecca Thomas: All right, Dr. Goswami, thank you so much for sharing your time and your expertise with us tonight.