Many people falsely assume that men are the most at risk for cardiovascular diseases, however more women than men have died of cardiovascular diseases every year since 1984. Untreated high blood pressure can cause kidney damage, and raises the risk of heart attack, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases. The cause of 3 out of 5 cases of heart failure in women is high blood pressure.
Coronary heart disease is the number one killer of American women, claiming more than 500,000 women's lives each year. This means 16 times as many women die of cardiovascular diseases each year than the next 16 causes of death combined! Early detection and treatment of high blood pressure could prevent many of these deaths.
Who's at Risk?
High blood pressure can happen to anyone at any age. It is often difficult to pinpoint a cause for high blood pressure, since several factors and conditions often play a role in its development.Race and even geographic location appear statistically significant in some cases -- African-American women who live in the Southeast are more likely to have high blood pressure than those who live elsewhere. Overall, African-Americans are more likely to develop high blood pressure at an earlier age and more severely than whites.
However, this certainly does not mean that the white population should consider high blood pressure an 'African-American disease.' In fact 11 states (Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia) in the Southeast are known as the 'Stroke Belt States' because of the high rate of strokes experienced by males and females of all races.
Other factors that contribute to high blood pressure are smoking, lack of physical activity, overweight, high sodium intake, high cholesterol, excessive intake of alcoholic beverages, and heredity. Diabetes patients also are at greater risk for high blood pressure and other cardiovascular diseases.
Women who use oral contraceptives should have their blood pressure closely monitored, although the risk from oral contraceptives is much lower than it was previously because the amount of estrogen and progestin in today's pills is significantly less. Women with high blood pressure who smoke and use oral contraceptives face a 10-15 times greater risk of stroke.
After menopause a woman's risk of high blood pressure and other cardiovascular diseases increases greatly--the risk increases significantly faster for women after hysterectomy. In "The Ultimate Rape," author Elizabeth L. Plourde, C.L.S., M.A., reveals that the uterus produces chemicals which help to regulate blood pressure -- the reason why many women experience high blood pressure following hysterectomy.
