February is National Heart Month, and because over 600,000 people die from heart disease in America annually, it’s important to know what you need to do to keep it healthy.
Your heart is the center of your circulatory system, where arteries, veins, and blood vessels get oxygenated blood that distributes many vital nutrients throughout the body. This fist-sized organ pumps 2,000 gallons of blood daily, beats 115,000 times daily, and can continue to beat even when removed from the body.
Many different factors lead to problems with your heart, and for women, the risk of heart problems rises after menopause. If you live in the Las Vegas, Nevada area and you’re looking to better understand heart health after menopause, Dr. Staci McHale and her dedicated staff at New Beginnings OB-GYN can help.
To understand why this can happen, let’s look at how your body changes after menopause, what effect that has on your heart, and how it can be managed.
Once your body ends the reproductive cycle, which typically occurs in your 40s and 50s, you’re producing little to no estrogen and progesterone. These hormones are responsible for your development into adulthood and affect many systems, including your skin, musculoskeletal system, urinary tract, and cardiovascular system.
This leads to changes throughout your body, and in postmenopause, you experience things like hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness, sexual discomfort, mood changes, sex drive changes, insomnia, dry skin, hair loss, weight changes, and urinary incontinence.
A common effect of being in postmenopause is a condition known as metabolic syndrome, which happens when your body starts accumulating more belly fat. Often, this means more high triglycerides and high-density lipoproteins (HDL or bad fats), and this leads to the arteries and veins developing more plaque and becoming more vulnerable to various heart conditions.
While women tend to develop heart disease later than men, it is still the leading cause of death for them. Many women are still not aware of the risk factors connected to postmenopause and metabolic syndrome.
These factors, along with other lifestyle factors like smoking, inactivity, and eating foods high in fats and sugar, all work to increase your risks of suffering from issues like heart attacks, blood clots, and stroke.
Here are some basic ways to prevent issues with heart disease associated with menopause:
Stopping or avoiding smoking is a very effective way of lowering risks, as people who smoke are at twice the risk or higher of dealing with heart problems. Getting more activity also helps to keep your body and your heart healthier.
Focus on a low-saturated fat diet (meaning reducing the partially hydrogenated fats in the foods you eat), and eat more foods high in fiber and whole grains. Include more fish, legumes, fruits, vegetables, and soy.
Since metabolic syndrome puts on pounds, getting the weight down can also help reduce your chances of heart problems. In addition to being more active, starting an exercise regimen can also lower stress, reduce cholesterol and blood pressure, as well as help you lose weight.
Any diseases that affect your chances of dealing with heart disease, like diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol, need to be treated and kept under control to keep your risk low.
Heart problems become more of a possible risk after menopause, but you can take control of those risks to stay healthy. Make an appointment with Dr. McHale and New Beginnings OB-GYN today to find out more ways to keep your heart healthy.
