Women's Health

<font color="red"> Interesting medical FACTS concerning FEMALES: </font>

1. More women die from cardiovascular disease than men?

2. Women are twice as likely as men to die from both stroke and Alzheimer's disease?

3. Twice as many women suffer from symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
- recurring constipation, abdominal pain, digestive discomfort, and bloating- as men?

4. Women are twice as likely to suffer from depression as men.

5. The most common form of cancer deaths among women is NOT breast cancer?

6. 60% of all cancers in women can be linked to dietary and lifestyle factors?

Interesting! Thank you Rhapsody. Maybe the reason for number 4 (4. Women are twice as likely to suffer from depression as men.) is because we have to put up with liking men.....sorry. Bitter, haha!

No reason to be SORRY............................ I can UNDERSTAND that particular feeling (and) I RELATE - lol lol lol.

Thanks for posting that, "Rhapsody."

I found out about #1 this summer. I had a mild heart attack at work. I didn't even know it was a heart attack. I went to my doctor the next day because I thought it was a panic attack but was concerned that my panic attacks were manifesting with NEW symptoms. It didn't even cross my mind that I was having a heart attack. I was 36 and a healthy weight. Heart disease doesn't run in my family but I do smoke (I know I need to quit!) When my doctor heard about what happened, she said she wanted to slap me for not calling 911 when it happened. She sent me for blood tests right away. They can tell from the blood tests if you've had a heart attack. Mine was mild. I was diagnosed with unstable angina and had to go for regular EKGs and take baby aspirin every day. I have been fine ever since. The doc thinks it was just caused by a small blood clot. I know that if I ever get those symptoms again, though, I need to call 911 and take an aspirin immediately.

It turns out that most women (including me at the time) don't know that women's symptoms of heart attack and heart problems are usually different from men. A lot of us think that if you're having a heart attack, you'll get a pain in your left arm, crushing chest pain and cold sweats. Most women don't get those symptoms, though. Those are usually men's symptoms. A lot of doctors overlook women's symptoms in the ER too -- part of the reason women are more likely to DIE from cardiovascular disease is that they don't get the treatment they need.

Anyway, here are some of the symptoms of heart attack that women are likely to experience. I think it's important for all women to know these symptoms.

<font color="#880000">Chest discomfort:
Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts for more than a few minutes, or goes away and comes back. The discomfort can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness, or pain.

Discomfort in other areas of the upper body:
Can include pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw, or stomach.

Shortness of breath:
Often comes along with chest discomfort. But it also can occur before chest discomfort.

Other symptoms:
May include breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea, or light-headedness. </font>

My symptoms were light-headedness, nausea, cold sweat and an intense pain which moved quickly up from the top of my chest into my neck and jaw. I didn't have any heaviness or pain in the centre of my chest.

My doctor told me that she had one patient who woke up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, felt woozy and nauseous and was throwing up. The women thought she had food poisoning, and her husband took her to the hospital. Fortunately, the ER doc she saw was educated about women's heart attack symptoms. The woman was having a massive heart attack and she got the treatment she needed because the doctor was informed and didn't overlook the symptoms. It's important for women to be informed too and to inform their families -- just in case we're not lucky enough to get a doc who's paying attention.

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Raynaadi said:
Interesting! Thank you Rhapsody. Maybe the reason for number 4 (4. Women are twice as likely to suffer from depression as men.) is because we have to put up with liking men.....sorry. Bitter, haha!

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LMAO! I think you're right.

Rhapsody why are these statements of "fact" ended with a question mark (?) ?

are you asking whether we think they are true or not?

if they are facts then do you have a reference?

some of them sound a little dodgey to me...

I found a reliable reference for #1 on the list:

http://www.americanheart.org/present...tifier=3039318

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Pilatus said:
Rhapsody why are these statements of "fact" ended with a question mark (?) ?

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That is how it came to me in e-mail and I did not want to change any thing.................... the ? are there to make you think..... for we often do not realize these things to be FACT.

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alexandra_k said:
are you asking whether we think they are true or not?

if they are facts then do you have a reference?

some of them sound a little dodgey to me...

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These FACTS came in an email I receive weekly from a board certified doctors website for HEALTH........... a MD (plus).

1. More women die from cardiovascular disease than men?

because it is underdiagnosed? men seem to have more cardio problems...

http://www.fauxpress.com/kimball/med...hcst/chart.htm

but no...

http://www.who.int/ncd_surveillance/...cg.104&Sex=all

so i would be interested to know whether he has a reference to a different (more recent) study.

4. Women are twice as likely to suffer from depression as men.

Gender Differences in the Prevalence of Somatic Versus Pure Depression: A Replication

OBJECTIVE: Using data from the Epidemiologic Catchment Area (ECA) study, the author attempted to replicate the finding of the National Comorbidity Survey that the prevalence of depression associated with somatic symptoms was much higher among women than men. METHOD: The author reanalyzed data from the ECA study. He divided respondents into those who met criteria for major depression and exhibited appetite and sleep disturbances and fatigue (somatic depression) and those who met depression criteria but did not exhibit all of these somatic criteria (pure depression). RESULTS: The reanalysis revealed that the prevalence of somatic depression but not pure depression was much higher among women than men. Somatic depression was associated with high rates of pain; among women, it was associated with high rates of anxiety disorders and chronic dysphoria. CONCLUSIONS: The gender difference in depression may result from a difference in a specific type of depression—anxious somatic depression.

http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/...ull/159/6/1051

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Doesn't matter if a person is a doctor if they don't cite their references how can we assess whether their claims are true or not unless we do a google search and see whether the quality studies tend to support or disconfirm the claim?

I'd be wary of anybody making claims about 'facts' without providing quality references.

Any doctor I "care" about is not making claims, they're busy being a doctor. If anyone is selling something I ignore that site.

I research stuff using the Mayo Clinic site and then dig deeper like with NIH/Government studies (again usually ignoring the places selling snake oil :-)

A lot of "claims" too, come through the Press and medical or science writers too and they aren't professional scientists and usually don't get the whole information out there because they're trying to make it understandable to a lay person so important stuff might be miswritten, etc.

Anything "new" I wait for, no matter what it is, because there's no years worth of experience behind it. I'm not having lasix surgery on my eyes until I'm at least in my late 60s, even though it's "safe" there's no telling how long it lasts and if things can get worse after a few years, etc. I let someone have it for 20 years successfully then have it in my late 60s knowing it will last the rest of my life :-) The knee replacements people have been having; they only last so long, etc. and we didn't know that at first. So people end up "crippled" again only in worse shape because their body is "missing" some of its natural parts now in addition to needing a "second" operation, etc.

If I break a bone you can set it so it heals (which the body does, not the doctor) straight but I'm having enough problems now with one med needing another med for the side effects, etc. already and all for "chronic" stuff that is my lifestyle choices and problems. Thanks anyway but I think I'll lose weight and exercise to get the blood pressure down and other problems related to my overweight self and risk the heart disease a bit longer :-)

Just because a study or claim or whatever comes from the government doesn't mean it's right or accurate, either. The government has its own agenda and desires for money, too.

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Maven said:
Just because a study or claim or whatever comes from the government doesn't mean it's right or accurate, either. The government has its own agenda and desires for money, too.

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AMEN!!

..... IF - I cannot find at least 3 websites that claim/post the same thing on the same subject then I do not always believe it to be factual.... and this pertains to all walks of life, people, pets, medicines (etc).


Rhapsody -