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As a woman, do you know what your risk is for developing heart disease?
You might be surprised. Take this quiz, based on information from the American Heart Association,
and see how much you know about heart disease in women.
1. Coronary heart disease develops gradually over many years and can easily go undetected.
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Coronary heart disease takes years to develop, and, in the case of women, it takes almost a decade longer to show up than it does in men. By then, a woman is often concerned with health problems such as cancer, arthritis, or osteoporosis. These diseases tend to draw attention away from thinking about heart disease.
2. Women don't have to worry about cardiovascular disease. It's primarily a man's problem.
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Coronary heart disease is the number one killer of American women. More women die of stroke than do men.
3. If a woman has a heart attack, she is more likely to survive than a man.
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Women have a lower chance of surviving heart attacks than men. Studies show that 23 percent of women die within a year, compared with 18 percent of men. At older ages, women who have had heart attacks are twice as likely as men are to die from them within a few weeks.
4. Women are less likely to get heart disease after menopause than before.
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Before menopause, many women seem to be protected from the risk of heart attack and stroke, perhaps by the hormone estrogen, which raises HDL ("good") cholesterol levels while lowering LDL ("bad") cholesterol. But as women approach menopause, around age 50, things change and the average woman's blood cholesterol begins to rise. After menopause, women's risk for heart attack and stroke continues to rise with age. Loss of estrogen is a significant contributor to women's developing heart disease after menopause.
5. When men reach middle age, or about 55, their blood cholesterol levels start to rise, but women's cholesterol levels seem to stabilize.
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Cholesterol levels become more stable in men around age 55, while both LDL and total cholesterol levels in most women start to rise.
6. African-American females are more likely than white females to die from coronary heart disease or stroke.
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The death rate for African-American females from coronary heart disease is 35 percent higher than the rate for Caucasian females. African-American females are almost twice as likely to have a stroke and also have a higher risk of dying than Caucasian females.
7. Which of the following is the single most important thing a woman can do to reduce her risk of heart attack?
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Smoking is the greatest single preventable cause of death. For women, smoking is the biggest preventable risk factor for heart attack and stroke.
8. Women smokers double their chances of having a heart attack over women who don't smoke.
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Women who smoke run more than twice the risk of having a heart attack as women who do not smoke.
9. Women can reduce their risks for heart attack and stroke by following which of these lifestyle habits?
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Other healthy habits are controlling high blood pressure and cholesterol levels, maintaining a healthy weight, and getting regular checkups. Many of the risks for cardiovascular diseases are controllable through healthy life habits. If women take control of their lives and choose habits that promote heart health, they can help prevent heart disease and stroke.
10. Women with heart disease have a lower risk of stroke.
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Coronary heart disease is a major risk factor for stroke.
