Health Net Wants Women to Be Heart Smart

The statistics, according to the American Heart Association, are startling:

• Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of American women; in fact, almost one woman dies every minute from this largely preventable disease;
• Heart disease claims the lives of nearly twice as many women as all forms of cancer combined;
• More than one in three female adults has some form of cardiovascular disease.

The month of February marks the start of "American Heart Month.” Health Net, Inc. (NYSE: HNT) is working to increase awareness not only about the prevalence of heart disease among women, but also about female heart-attack symptoms, which can differ significantly from male symptoms.

"It used to be that heart disease was mainly associated with men but, today, we know better,” observes Jonathan Scheff, M.D., chief medical officer for Health Net, Inc. "In fact,” he adds, "since 1984, each year the number of cardiovascular-disease deaths for females has exceeded those for males. Consequently, we want women to be aware of risk factors, heart-attack symptoms, and preventive measures.”

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Risk factors

While Scheff emphasizes that all women are susceptible to heart disease, he notes that some are at greater risk than others. For example, according to the Women’s Heart Foundation:

• Women who smoke risk having a heart attack 19 years earlier than non-smoking females;
• Women with hypertension are at 3.5 times greater risk of developing coronary heart disease than females with normal blood pressure;
• Women with diabetes have more than double the risk of having a heart attack than non-diabetic women;
• The age-adjusted rate of heart disease among African-American women is 72 percent higher than for Caucasian women.

Women’s heart-attack symptoms

"Despite the high incidence of heart attacks among females,” explains Scheff, "many women aren’t aware that their symptoms often are quite different from those experienced by men.” Classic symptoms of a heart attack include:

• Squeezing chest pain or pressure;
• Shortness of breath;
• Sweating;
• Pain spreading to shoulders, neck, or arms;
• Feeling of heartburn or indigestion (with or without nausea and vomiting);
• Sudden dizziness or brief loss of consciousness.

According to research by the National Institutes of Health, heart-attack symptoms in women frequently don’t mirror the above, classic signs. In fact, while most doctors still consider chest pain to be the hallmark heart-attack symptom, the vast majority of women studied did not experience any chest pain in connection with their heart attack.

The women’s major symptoms prior to their heart attacks included:

• Unusual fatigue;
• Difficulty sleeping;
• Shortness of breath;
• Indigestion;
• Nausea/vomiting;
• Weakness or throbbing in one or both arms;
• Discomfort/pain in the jaw, neck, or between shoulder blades;
• Anxiety.

During their actual heart attacks, the women’s primary symptoms included:

• Shortness of breath;
• Weakness;
• Unusual fatigue;
• Cold sweat;
• Dizziness.

Head off heart disease

"The ultimate goal, of course, is to prevent heart disease and heart attacks altogether,” Scheff says. Toward that end, he suggests:

• Engage regularly in aerobic exercise;
• Follow a low-fat, low-sodium diet; aim to eat five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables daily;
• Maintain a healthy weight;
• Drink in moderation, if at all;
• Don’t smoke;
• Have your blood pressure checked regularly;
• Ask your doctor about checking your blood cholesterol and blood sugar levels;
• Talk to your doctor about an electrocardiogram or exercise-stress test if you have a family history of heart disease, particularly in a relative prior to the age of 60.

About Health Net

Health Net, Inc. is among the nation’s largest publicly traded managed health care companies. Its mission is to help people be healthy, secure and comfortable. The company’s health plans and government contracts subsidiaries provide health benefits to approximately 6.1 million individuals across the country through group, individual, Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE and Veterans Affairs programs. Health Net’s behavioral health subsidiary, MHN, provides mental health benefits to approximately 6.5 million individuals in all 50 states. The company’s subsidiaries also offer managed health care products related to prescription drugs, and offer managed health care product coordination for multi-region employers and administrative services for medical groups and self-funded benefits programs.

For more information on Health Net, Inc., please visit the company’s Web site at www.healthnet.com.