United States
Canada
Magyarország
Italia
EspañaWhat Every Woman Needs to Know
NOVEMBER 15, 2010, 4:08 pm
Women have broken through some of the hardest glass ceilings. We’ve had women explore the depths of outer space, a woman run for President of the United States, and we’ve had a woman serving as Speaker of the House, a position that is just two heartbeats away from the Presidency. Many consider politics as one of the last bastions of the boys club and thankfully—although slowly—women are finally making real inroads.
But there is another boys club that until recently, many people either didn’t know about or talk about. It came as a big shock to me to discover that gender inequality still prevails in the medical sciences when it comes to research and treatment of some illnesses. I consider myself a well-informed person, but I only became aware of this fact when learning about women and heart disease, and I was stunned.
Heart disease is the number one killer of women in our country, more than all cancers combined. Today, heart disease kills more women than men. When I started to think about this, it was not surprising. More women are taking on the stresses of juggling household demands, of being wife, mother AND breadwinner. All of these modern day strains add to higher blood pressure, lack of physical activity, quick and unhealthy food choices, and weight gain—all major contributors to heart disease.
Despite the statistics, for years, most of the medical community has been treating our mothers, wives, daughters, sisters and friends inadequately because they based their treatment protocols on research outcomes done mostly on male patients. Cardiologists treating women certainly intended to provide their patients with quality care, but they could only depend on the research that was available and known to them. In 1991, Dr. Bernadine Healy, the first woman director of the US National Institute of Health, studied the gender bias in the treatment of coronary heart disease. Termed the Yentl syndrome (a surprising coincidence), the study revealed that “once a woman showed that she was just like a man by having severe coronary artery disease, she was then treated as a man would be.” This would make sense if women’s hearts were biologically the same as men’s hearts--but they aren’t! And because of the biological differences, heart attacks present differently in women than they do in men. Instead of the classic attack – clutching a painful chest – women often have indigestion and fatigue. Plus, women are more likely than men to develop micro-vascular disease, which affects the heart’s smallest arteries.
We can no longer afford to naively assume that this is only a man’s disease—it’s now a woman’s epidemic. We may be almost 50 years behind in our research knowledge that informs diagnosis and treatment regimens for women with heart disease, but we are finally starting to close that gap. The Women’s Heart Center at Cedars Sinai Medical Institute is helping to lead the way in this effort as one of few institutions in the country on the cutting edge of this research. The Center is led by Dr. Noel Bairey Merz, a Harvard Medical School graduate. Dr. Merz has published over 180 scientific publications and more than 200 abstracts and has received numerous awards recognizing her as one of the field’s leading experts on preventive cardiology, women’s heart disease and mental stress. It was clear to me that I had to get involved when I heard that this brilliant woman was doing lifesaving work that would ultimately impact women all over the world—right in my own backyard!
But it’s all of our responsibilities to be advocates on this issue and to demand that gender inequality, especially when it comes to life and death issues, is not acceptable. This is a call to action and I hope you all will join me in supporting the new and vital work that is being done on women’s heart health. If you want to learn more, visit: www.crowdrise.com/barbrastreisand
Comments for this Statement
Re: What Every Woman Needs to Know
Wow, I lost both my breast, had a child, have a full time job, was a single parent, and are gay. I had lots of people give my child and I, a very hard time when she was growing up, but I'm still standing.....I believe we are not only equal when it comes to men, we've passed them a long, long time ago.....I also work for surgeons and use to give a "Women in Surgery," meeting every year, to help the women medical students realize they could have a life if they became surgeons. As of last year, I didn't have to give this meeting anymore. It is now 51% to 49% women who are surgeons. Never, ever under estimate the power of a woman!
Doris
New York
Re: What Every Woman Needs to Know
As we get older, and decide to follow people we have admired for over 48 years for me, I do recall when I was dating my husband back in the 1960's..We were a regular front table guest at the Club called THE BLUE ANGEL.. and of course I was young and novice, having a job working around the corner from that club, and was then working for James Taylor's Father..Frank Taylor, Western Publishing/Simon and Schuster Publ.
I cannot forget this incredible singer called Barbra sitting on a stool all dressed in black on stage, with long hair and this voice, I will never forget...I wanted to meet her, but it never happened.
So please understand I being the first person doing a complete make-over on my first client (Marilyn) as in Monroe..who was then shooting the movie which was Arthur Miller's The Misfit's.....and now my new boyfriend Irving Berlin's son, had given me a ring, and took me to all these clubs, Village Vanguard, and wherever, Barbra, or Peter, Paul and Mary, or the best Jazz groups would perform..
The family I married into then was very Philanthropic, and were the first to generate donations for Charities, via having Dinner Dances at hotels such as the Plaza, Waldorf Astoria, and others..The Dedication of their lives to help people in need certainly warms my heart as to where you are going to with your Organization in helping women today with Heart Disease. My applause goes to you for this dedication.
Might I add, my in-laws were recognized by the U.S. President, Mayor and Governor of New York and today we see the dedication of their work with all the Handicapped and dedication from people like Jerry Lewis following my father's wish to find the cure for Muscular Dystrophy.
The audience of today's generation will never know what great music and great entertainers we have still today such as Miss Barbra Streisand, from Brooklyn, such as myself, However, I did not go to Erasmus H.S., my husband did, I went to Yeshiva..
as a young girl...
Later after attending Brooklyn College, and being friends with legendary actors of today, and yesteryear.....
I feel happy and fortunate that I can finally voice my past a little anyway...for perhaps even Barbra might notice.
I did cry when you were on Oprah's this past week, and Bob Redford...certainly a memory none of us will forget...The Way We Were....Love, Marion
Re: What Every Woman Needs to Know
I am one of the lucky ones!! Having a female internist who caught a slight irregularity in a stress test and sent me to a cardiologist saved my life. I was a healthy (so I thought) active 52-year old woman who had raised 3 daughters (with my wonderful husband), seen 2 of them get married, finished grad school, and had landed my dream job at age 44 after being a stay-at-home mom for many years. I had a 85% blockage in my left descending artery (LDA) or what is commonly called the widow maker. An angioplasty showed the blockage, a stent was inserted and I was back at work a week later. 2 months later I started having chest pains again, I passed a stress test with flying colors and was told I was fine. I took a trip to Europe where I really started slowing down, and after less than a week at home, I could not walk across a room. Back to the ER, a heart monitor until another cardiac catherization could be done - 90% blockage in my LDA from scar tissue caused by the stent (not a rare thing.) Immediate by-pass surgery, 4 days in ICU, then 3 more days in the hospital and home to recuperate.
I lived to see my 1st, then 2nd, and then 3rd grandchild born (now almost 8, 6, and 4). I am blessed and thrilled to be alive.
The same internist caught something in a routine exam of my mother-in-law who at age 80 was found to have a tumor in her heart as well as valve damage and a blocked artery (and this is a woman who routinely walks 2-3 miles a day.)
This story had a happy ending - so many don't. Thank you for advocating for women in all that you do.
Kathie
Louisville, KY
Re: What Every Woman Needs to Know
I am actually very young and don't have much serious problems of heart disease in my family, but I understood everything you wrote and it made the biggest sence ever. We really should pay attention to that, it's not worth it at all to lose women because of heart disease when it can be avoided with the right help and for that it makes sence that, if women are different from men, we have our own studies about our hearts. Thank you so much for warning people, letting them know, and helping this cause, it's really important and if I can understand it, then everybody does and should be worried about it.
Marie,
Portugal
Re: What Every Woman Needs to Know
In August of 2007 I learned first hand how our male-dominated medcial community misses many women with CAD symptoms after I was turned away while seeking help three times. I first called my PCP's office after an unusual and painful upper back pain and I was told by the nurse that it didn't sound like anything to be concerned about as I prepared to leave town for a short vacation. While traveling, the upper back pain continued on exertion so several days later as soon as I returned home, I called the PCP's office again and asked to be seen. X-rays were taken as the Pa-C considered the pain a pulled neck muscle which was soon ruled out and I was sent on my way. A short time later, I was called back on my cellphone to the physician's office for the Pa-C to do an EKG just to rule out any cardiac issues and was soon told it was normal. The next morning, I was at my local pharmacy picking up a prescription and conplained to the clerk that I was feeling awful. I described my upper back pain that was now down my left arm and she immediately responded, "That's a cardiac symptom." Before she could dial 911, I left the store and drove myself to the hospital ER, only a short distance away. By then, I was having the "crushed chest" syndrome and was indeed having an MI. A cardiac catheterization showed a 100% blockage in the Left Anterior Descending artery, often called the 'widow maker' as men presenting with a blocked LAD don't survive. A stent was implanted and somehow, I survived. Yes, of course, I should have gone to the ER sooner and hope that anyone reading this post will respond quicker than I finally did. I've been told my survival is truly a miracle so maybe I'm still here for that one woman to read these comments and react in time to save yourself.
Re: What Every Woman Needs to Know
My sister 50 years young recently passed away from heart disease. She was a smoker but very healthy otherwise. The reason she died (according to her Surgeon) was that her arteries were just too small. Surely, she had some good arteries somewhere but it seems the hospital didn't check for that. My advice to every person reading this, is please get 2nd or third opinions & don't go to local community hospitals, that aren't prepared for complications and most likely only one Surgeon is in charge of your life. Hospitals such as Cleveland Clinic, where President Clinton went, have Surgeons checking on patients around the clock. Both my sister & I made the fatal mistake of looking up bypass surgery and not researching female bypass surgery. She might be alive today had she recognized the complications that could arise. We were unaware. She was told she had a 98% chance of living. Your life is worth any travel inconvenience!
She was not only my sister but my best friend and my life is forever changed. Also please try to encourage others to not smoke and if you do, never mix birth control pills because the combo narrows your arteries. My sister believed she would lose a few years off her life from smoking, but she probably lost as much as 30 years.
Re: What Every Woman Needs to Know
Thank you for speaking out on this subject. Yes, in my opinion women are taking on too much, and it absolutely impacts their heart. Stress can impact your entire nody and can kill you!! I just found out about a condition that I have that's affecting my right eye. Hopefully its only temporary. Its called central serous retinopathy. My right eye has a build up of fluid thats blocking alot of my sight, and it can be irreversible and actually lead to blindness!! They think if I use the drops they gave me and relax. it will reverse itself. I have to have an eye exam again in 5 weeks. God bless you for caring about women. You have done so much for women and you are so appreciated and admired. Love ya!
Re: What Every Woman Needs to Know
Good news to all and listen a (youtube) video shows a way to be healthy again Get a note pad and pen ready! And you couldn't guess what it has ... it's jam pact with all sorts might just bust you into pieces of sorts you might not be able to watch it all in one sitting cause you might want to change the way you are living right that second! Keep watching though we live in a cloud of lies... Keep watching taking notes...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvzDHGLEUyw
Watch the beautiful truth! God Bless all... Enjoy! Well enjoy your new lives...