Cardiovascular Diseases: What Every Woman Should Know

Cardiovascular diseases are by far the leading cause of death for women in most parts of the world. The reason why this ailment has become one of the leading killers in women is because of changes in their lifestyle, diet, and other factors.

All about Cardiovascular Diseases
Cardiovascular diseases are the generic term used to refer to the class of diseases that affect the cardiovascular system. Despite being varied, cardiovascular diseases have the same causes, treatments, and mechanisms. Hence, it is just convenient to combine all these diseases into one due to their similarities.

Cardiovascular diseases commonly refer to arterial disorders such as blockages in the arteries and in any of the major veins in the heart. Whatever the nature and whichever part of the cardiovascular system is affected, it is labeled as a cardiovascular disease.

Women and Cardiovascular Diseases
The changes in diet, lifestyle, and health-related practices of women all contributed to making cardiovascular diseases as the main cause of death in women. In fact, the disease has overtaken breast cancer as the leading killer among women. But what made women very susceptible to cardiovascular diseases?

The answer to the question can be found in any of the following reasons:
1) Lifestyle changes. Smoking, drinking, and and combining these with drugs or other unhealthy substances, result in a deterioration of women's health in which cardiovascular diseases is the common end result.
2) Changes in their diet. The world today is populated by all kinds of processed food that purportedly provide women with ready sources of nutrients. As a result, most women get hooked on these foods, conveniently ignoring fresh sources of nutrients such as fruits and vegetables.
3) Living a sedentary lifestyle. Some women are not as fond of going outdoors as men. This may be due to several factors that hinder a woman from venturing outdoors. This is a huge mistake because not getting enough exercise means that a woman's body is not provided enough of the physical activity it needs to keep the body in a healthy state.
4)Complications of pregnancy. As much as 20 percent of pregnant women suffer some form of cardiovascular disease during the course of their pregnancy. Although this is a possibility in every pregnancy, it is sometimes ignored. This is very dangerous because it may lead to death or it may require an early termination of pregnancy to avoid further risks.

What Women Should Do about Cardiovascular Diseases
If a woman is at risk from the ailment, especially when there is a family history of the disease, one should immediately seek medical attention. As such, one should undergo regular examinations to determine that the cardiovascular system is healthy. On the other hand, women should give up drinking and smoking and instead engage in an active lifestyle through regular exercises and consume a healthy diet.
by James Pendergraft