{"id":1320,"date":"2026-04-15T12:19:58","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T12:19:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/portfolio.zenkoders.com\/ai-powered\/?p=1320"},"modified":"2026-04-15T12:19:58","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T12:19:58","slug":"obgyn-delivers-insight-on-heart-health-hormones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/portfolio.zenkoders.com\/ai-powered\/obgyn-delivers-insight-on-heart-health-hormones\/","title":{"rendered":"OBGYN Delivers Insight on Heart Health &#038; Hormones"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As an OBGYN for the past 30 years, I feel as though I am on the front line of health care providers who can identify women at risk for heart disease. \u00a0When you go to see your OBGYN for your yearly exam you can start to learn what your risk factors are for the number 1 killer of women. \u00a0Many women only see their OBGYN during the first 50 years of their life as their primary health care provider so knowing who is at risk can be lifesaving.<\/p>\n<p>Heart disease accounts for more deaths than all forms of female cancer combined including breast, lung, and ovarian cancer.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s hard to believe that a woman dies every 80 seconds from a heart attack or stroke and more than 2\/3 of them won\u2019t feel a single symptom. \u00a0If there is a take home message it\u2019s that 80% of the causes of heart disease can be prevented.<\/p>\n<p>Since \u201ca woman is not a small man\u201d as Dr Nanette Wenger, a leading cardiologist in women and heart disease suggests, when comparing our risks we need to look at the less traditional and natural hormonal cycles affecting women that increase their risk.<\/p>\n<p><strong><b>Pregnancy<\/b><\/strong>\u00a0is the first \u201cstress test\u201d a woman experiences. Pregnancy complications such as hypertension of pregnancy (Pre-eclampsia), preterm labor, small for gestational age baby, and gestational diabetes can uncover early predictions of cardiovascular risk.\u00a0Once the pregnancy is over, the disease of the blood vessels continues <em><i>after <\/i><\/em>pregnancy so these complications and concerns persist.\u00a0A detailed pregnancy history is important in accessing your risk of cardiac disease and must be conveyed to your health care providers to monitor these risks.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Menopause <\/strong>is another natural hormonal cycle that continues the conversation of heart disease risk. \u00a0Prior to going into menopause, the hormone estrogen has a positive and healthy effect on blood vessels and blood flow. Once you enter menopause, estrogen levels plummet and you experience hormonal and physical chaos happening at the same time. \u00a0The decrease in estrogen levels during menopause may increase risk of heart disease but does not cause cardiovascular disease. \u00a0Hormone replacement therapy is not recommended to treat or prevent heart disease but can be used to treat other disruptive symptoms of menopause including hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia and mood changes.<\/p>\n<p>Other unexpected body changes occurring during menopause include increases in blood pressure and an increase in LDL, or the bad cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Menopause should make women pay more attention to healthy aging and decreasing our mortality.<\/p>\n<p>A Canadian study showed women with unsuccessful fertility treatments were at increase the risk of heart disease than the general population. Those women who had successful fertility treatments had a decrease in cardiovascular disease. \u00a0This finding helps continue the conversation between your fertility specialist and other health care providers to identify unsuspecting risk factors for heart disease.<\/p>\n<p>Other medical conditions common in women that increase the risk of heart disease include, systemic autoimmune diseases including rheumatoid arthritis, Lupus, and Psoriasis. Depression and it\u2019s association of high-risk behaviors including drugs and cigarette smoking put this group of women at risk.<\/p>\n<p>I want to encourage awareness and action to women of all ages. My advice for women in their 20\u2019s-30\u2019s and 40\u2019s-is you are never too young to form healthy habits to lower your risk of heart disease.<\/p>\n<p>Simple lifestyle habits that start in your 20\u2019s will help reduce your risk and prevent heart disease.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Eat a heart-healthy diet including fruits, veggies, whole grains, low fat dairy products, fish and chicken.<\/li>\n<li>Avoid high sodium foods, sugar, processed meats and foods made with partially hydrogenated vegetable oil<\/li>\n<li>Exercise 30 minutes on most days of the week or 150minutes\/week.<\/li>\n<li>Maintain a healthy weight with a BMI&lt;30 and keep your blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar numbers at normal levels.<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t smoke or use tobacco &amp; avoid secondhand smoke<\/li>\n<li>Get regular health screenings and understand your family health history<\/li>\n<li>Get quality sleep and manage your stress<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There are really no set guidelines as we have for mammograms, pap smears, colonoscopies and bone densities for heart disease screening in women. It is my hope that heart disease screening begin for women at 40 years old. Since 80% of heart disease can be prevented I look forward to the day that heart disease in women will be eliminated through awareness and action. \u00a0A woman\u2019s early health habits can impact her heart health in later years and transition to menopause which ultimately promotes healthy aging and wellness.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As an OBGYN for the past 30 years, I feel as though I am on the front line of health care providers who can identify women at risk for heart disease. \u00a0When you go to see your OBGYN for your yearly exam you can start to learn what your risk factors are for the number [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1321,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blogs"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/portfolio.zenkoders.com\/ai-powered\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/portfolio.zenkoders.com\/ai-powered\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/portfolio.zenkoders.com\/ai-powered\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portfolio.zenkoders.com\/ai-powered\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portfolio.zenkoders.com\/ai-powered\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1320"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/portfolio.zenkoders.com\/ai-powered\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1320\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1322,"href":"https:\/\/portfolio.zenkoders.com\/ai-powered\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1320\/revisions\/1322"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portfolio.zenkoders.com\/ai-powered\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/portfolio.zenkoders.com\/ai-powered\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portfolio.zenkoders.com\/ai-powered\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portfolio.zenkoders.com\/ai-powered\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}