New approach to heart health for girls and women

Leading health organizations are taking a new approach to women's heart health. The groups, they've released new guidance on how to protect heart health from puberty through menopause, then beyond. Dr. Kumar joining us to break down this new framework, what women should know. It's so important. So can you just kind of walk us through this new framework and what we're learning now? Yeah, you know, over 400,000 women are going to die of heart disease this year. And only 40% of women understand that heart disease is the number one leading cause of death in women. And so there is an underappreciation. of women and heart disease where I guess they believe that it's more likely due to be breast cancer or other things. And this is a framework in which the pediatricians, the OBGYNs, the cardiologists, maternal-fetal medicine got together and recognized that a woman's risk of heart disease can be assessed throughout their life, from puberty when menses starts. Irregular menses can denote gestational diabetes, preeclampsia. These are predictors of future heart disease risk. And then perimenopause and menopause. It's not just hot flashes. It's also increased cholesterol and high blood pressure. Things like that that happened in these time frames that we could modify and improve our future heart disease risk. And women live a long time after menopause, and so it's not just after 60 that you're at risk of high blood pressure and these factors. It happens during the entire time. We ought to pay attention to it, is what they're saying. So are they basically saying there's four different times in your life for a woman to kind of check in with their doctor to see how their heart's doing? That's a brilliant way of putting it. Absolutely right. Puberty, pregnancy, perimenopause, and menopause, these are all times of a woman's life that And it's based off, like, hormones, right? I mean, that's what's changing. Yes, hormones definitely have an influence. Yes, that's what they're saying, that this could be an underlying factor to tell us how hormones interact with other risk factors like high cholesterol and high blood pressure and diabetes. Those are certainly the most connected things to heart disease, but these hormone fluctuations can affect those factors as well. So as this framework has just come out from the American Heart Association, what should women take away to... Try to live their healthiest life. What should they be doing now to to keep their heart healthy. Yeah, I think that doctors need to coordinate more together. You know, your pediatrician, that history that you had about your menses and puberty should carry on with you to your adulthood. And your pregnancy history, what kind of issues you had during pregnancy should carry on as you go past your childbearing years to your primary care doctor. It shouldn't just be sitting with your OB-GYN. It should transfer over to your primary care doctor, your cardiologist, and conveying all these together that we can, as women are aging and getting They're perimenopausal. Years, we can assess their heart disease risk. They should know their numbers. You know, your blood pressure, your cholesterol, your hemoglobin A1C. These are all factors that are influenced throughout your life and paying attention to it. You know, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. You know, that can prevent heart disease. Get all the fundamentals in check. And you say good things to do now, sleep well, take care of yourself, exercise. All the routine things that we should know. Yes, get adequate amounts of sleep, get adequate amounts of exercise, eat fiber. You know, know your numbers, know your blood pressure and your cholesterol, and eat well. You know, these things will pay dividends 20 and 30 and 40 years into the future. And that's what this message is about. Like, even in our youths, you know, our women, when they're young, their future heart disease risk can be predicted and altered. And to pay attention, not wait until you're 60 and then decide to pay attention, is throughout your lifetime. All right, Dr. Kumar, thank you so much. We appreciate your expertise.