Heart disease is the most common health challenge for both men and women. Even then it does not affect them the same way. Some heart conditions are seen to occur more in men than women and if it is the same problem then the symptoms may be different. For women, it is always important to know what to watch for and how to protect yourself as you get old.

Warning Signs

We all know that whenever someone has chest pain then we presume it to be a heart attack. In real life, women may have less obvious symptoms are are as likely to get shortness of breath instead of marked chest pain. You may also feel pain in the jaws, back and upper belly. Women will usually feel nauseous, lightheaded and dizzy.

What’s SCAD?

Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection (SCAD) is when the heart’s blood vessel gets a tear. This can slow the blood flow or block it. Ultimately leading to severe chest pain and other symptoms that feel like heart attack. This is a serious condition that requires immediately medical care. Women are more prone to get SCAD, especially when they have recently given birth to a child.

Broken Heart

A broken heart syndrome is medically known as stress-induced cardiomyopathy, it can happen more to women than men. It is caused by a sudden release of stress hormones and occurs after a very emotional event like divorce or death in a family. The thing that happens is that a part of the heat gets bigger and stops pumping efficiently, this cause intense chest pain and immediately medical help is required.

Menopause

In menopause women experience multiple changes to their bodies, while it does not cause heart disease, the many changes can lead to one. The levels of estrogen go down rapidly and arteries can get stiffer. Whereas the blood pressure, belly fat and LDL rises. Being active is one way of countering the effects of menopause.

Inflammation

If a woman is suffering from problems like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus etc. they have a chance of getting heart disease. Even if you are young, don’t smoke, and exercise regularly you can get affected. Inflammation can be kept in check with medications.

Diabetes

Diabetes can double a woman’s probability of getting heart disease. High blood sugar slowly slows down the flow of oxygen in your blood and lead to plaque build-up in the arteries. Women with diabetes also tend to be overweight or obese which can aggravate the BP and cholesterol problem. With proper diet and exercise the problem can be managed.

Hypertension or high blood pressure happens when the blood travels through blood vessels with more force than is considered healthy. When blood pressure is high, it can damage artery and blood vessels leading to dangerous complications and even death, if left untreated.

Artery Damage

The arteries are supposed to be sturdy, springy and smooth to enable the movement of blood from lungs and heart. It is in this movement that it helps collect oxygen and supply it to other organs or tissues. High blood pressure of HBP pushes too hard on your artery walls. This damages the inside and causes fat, or plaque to deposit. The plaque narrows the arteries, so they can’t do their job well.

Aneurysm

It is condition where the pressure pushes out a section of the artery wall and weakens it. If it breaks, it can bleed into your body. This is a very serious condition. It is likely to happen in any artery but particularly in the aorta. If the artery is damaged artery, you could get an aneurysm, even without blood pressure.

Coronary Artery Disease

CAD happens when plaque builds up in arteries closer to the heart. This slows down the blood flow, which can bring chest pain or a strange heart rhythm. The total blockage can cause heart attacks.

Heart Attack

When plaque builds up in the blood vessels, a clump of it breaks loose, to completely block an artery to the heart, this causes heart attack. The blockage can starve the heart  muscle of oxygen and nutrients. This hurts of destroys the heart. Usually a sort of pressure or pain is felt in the chest region, but sometimes it can be along the arm or jaw too. There can be difficult to breathe accompanied by nausea and dizziness.

Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD)

High blood pressure can affect blood vessels that are farther from the heart like the arms, legs, head or stomach. Usually you will feel pain or cramps in the legs, often when you walk or climb stairs. The pain goes away once you rest or come back. Left untreated, PAD can bring about stroke, ulcers, and loss of circulation to the legs and lead to even amputation.

Heart Failure

High blood pressure can cause arteries to narrow and overtime they can make the heart work harder. This continuous condition makes the heart weaker. Eventually, it gets so weak that it can’t supply enough blood to the rest of the body. This is known as heart failure.

Enlarged Heart

When the heart works harder to move the blood around, the muscle of the heart thickens. This results in the whole heart getting enlarged. The bigger it gets, the less able it will be to do its job. The heart tissues also receive very less oxygen and nutrients they need. This condition can get serious and life threatening if continued.

Stroke

High blood pressure is the world’s top cause for stroke. There are two types of stroke, mainly the hemorrhagic one where the weakened artery bursts in the brain and the Ischemic one where the clump or clot in the artery, comes loose and lodges itself in the blood vessel blocking the blood flow to the brain. One part of the brain starts to die when it doesn’t get enough blood. This can hurt your ability to think, move, speak and see.

Dementia, kidney failure, eye problem, sexual dysfunction, bone loss and sleep apnea are other health problems caused by high blood pressure.

Metastasis is the process of cancer spreading to other parts of the body. In this type of cancer, the cancer cells travel to your bones through blood stream and other fluids. It is actually the cancer cells from an affected area travelling to bones in some other area and causing deposits in bones.

What are its risk factors?

All types of cancers can lead to bone metastasis. It is very difficult to predict if the particular cancer cells will spread, but certain cancers like that of breast, lung, thyroid, prostate and kidney can spread faster to bones. This is also true of larger tumours that affect the lymph nodes.

Where do metastasis occur?

Metastasis can occur in any bone of the body, but they tend to be closer to the centre of the body. The most common parts are spine, thigh bone, upper arm bone, ribs, hips and the skull.

What are the symptoms?

Excruciating pain in the bones is often the first sign. The pain usually occurs  off and on but the pain may become constant as the disease progresses. It is seen that the bone pain has a tendency to increase during night time.

How does it damage bones?

Metastasis weakens the bones, especially those in the spine and the long bones in the arms and legs. What happens is with each passing day everyday activities like coughing and sitting down in a chair can cause breaking of bones. The pain is often very sudden and it is sharp.

How is it diagnosed?

The doctor will order tests and take images of the inside of the body, even when there are no symptoms. With a simple X-ray a

Doctor may be able to diagnose broken bones etc. A bone scan though is a much more exact way of knowing about your bone and if it is broken. CT, MRI and PET scans are advised if required to find out if the cancer has spread.

Treating the primary cancer

The common treatments for bone metastasis include chemotherapy, hormone therapy and immunotherapy that targets the main caner. They are administered by orally, through injections and attack the cancer cells in the body.

The side effects can be nausea, vomiting, fatigue, hair loss and a high chance of getting various infections.

For pain reduction Radiotherapy can be given.

To stabilization of weak base also RT can be given. Bisphosphonate are given to prevail further base weakness.

When there is a lack of blood supply to the heart, the heart muscle doesn’t get enough oxygen. Without oxygen the heart cells get damaged or die. This ultimately affects the functioning of the heart and leads to a heart attack.

The best way to recover is to get the blood flow restored as quickly as possible. The right medical help at the right time can saves lives.

What causes heart attack?

Over a period of time, cholesterol and fatty material known as plaque build up on the walls inside the blood vessels. They also occur in the blood vessels that takes blood to the heart, that is the arteries. These plaque prevents the free flow of blood to the heart. When a piece of plaque dislodges from the artery wall it breaks off and a blood clot forms around the plaque blocking the flow of blood in the artery. So the heart does not receive enough of blood and this causes the heart attack.

What are the symptoms?

The symptoms of a heart attack may include pain, pressure or discomfort in the chest. You will feel short of breath, sweat, faint or feel sick. At the same time your neck, jaw or shoulder might hurt.

People are more likely to break out in a cold sweat and feel the pain along the left arm. People will have back or neck pain, heartburn and shortness in breath. They may also have an upset stomach. The symptoms are so mild that there is a danger of ignoring it as something else.

What should be done?

When someone suspects a heart attack it is best to call for medical help. The patient is more likely to survive if they get treated within 90 minutes. While waiting for medical help to arrive the person can chew an aspirin to prevent blood clot. If the patient is unconscious then hand CPR can double their chances of survival.

How is heart attack diagnosed?

The first thing a doctor will do to diagnose a heart attack is ask the patient to undergo a EKG, which checks the electrical activity of the heart. It shows if the patient is having a heart attack. The next step is to undergo a blood test that looks for proteins that heart cells release when they die.

What is the treatment?

Doctors will immediately administer drugs that help to dissolve the blood clots and get the blood flowing to your heart. Then in all likely hood the patient will be subjected to a coronary angiogram.

Angioplasty – A small thin tube with a tiny balloon at the end is inserted into the artery through a minimally invasive procedure. The balloon helps flatten the plaque against the wall of the artery and then the balloon is extracted while it leaves behind a mesh called stent to keep the artery open.

Risks of heart attack

Age, habits like smoking and a family history of heart attack can be the risk factors. Having high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, stress, lack of exercise and being obese are other risk elements.

How to prevent it?

Quit smoking, have regular exercise, eat lot of fruits  to keep arteries clear and take preventive medicines if required as prescribed by the doctor.

A urinary tract infection is usually very painful and frustrating, especially if they occur again and again. Doctors advice antibiotics and that should generally clear the UTI in a few days, but there are still more simpler measures to ensure that you don’t get an infection.

These little lifestyle changes can help stop all that burning, frequent urination and other unpleasant symptoms. The idea is to flush out all the bacteria from your system.

Drink Plenty of Water

The easiest way to prevent a UTI is to drink plenty of water and flush out the bacteria from the bladder and urinary tract before it can set in. If a person is well hydrated, it will be difficult to hold on too long without urinating.

Wipe Front to Back

It is the anal region that contains most of the bacteria and so it is advisable to wipe from front to the back, especially after a bowel movement. If this is practiced then there is very little chance of getting the bacteria into the urethra and causing UTI.

Observe hygiene during sex

It is best to use soap and water to wash up before having sex as this will keep away the bacteria from the urethra. Similarly urinating after sex will push the bacteria out of the system which must have entered the urinary tract.

Stop using irritating products

Many women are in the habit of using douches, deodorant sprays and powders which can cause irritation and infection leading to UTI. It is better to avoid such products.

Using suitable birth control

Certain birth control measures like diaphragm, spermicide or lubricated condoms can ultimately cause UTI problems. They actually contribute to bacterial growth. If a person habitually gets UTI and used these products then it is better to use certain water based lubricants instead or try another birth control method.

Use proper clothing

Women who get UTI can avoid wearing tight clothes and undergarments as these may trap bacteria near the urethra. Using cotton panties is also a good option.

Bath vs. Showers

Doctors usually advise women who get frequent UTIs to take daily showers instead of a body bath.

What treatments will the doctor suggest?

For frequent occurrence of UTIs the doctor may suggest the following:

To take a daily dose of antibiotics

Having a self test at home to detect UTI infection

Use of estrogen vaginal cream, if the patient has gone through menopause, this will prevent the vaginal dryness which can cause UTI

To consult the urologist for further investigation to detect other anatomical abnormalities which can cause recurrent UTI.