Dr. Seth Baum
By Linda Haase
Let’s get to the heart of the matter. After all, February is American Heart Month.
And while lots of heart-shaped boxes have infiltrated stores nationwide, there are some not-so-sweet statistics:
• Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in this country.
• Every minute in the United States, someone’s wife, mother, daughter or sister dies from heart disease, stroke or another form of cardiovascular disease.
• Heart attacks and strokes kill 11 times as many women as does breast cancer.
• Almost two-thirds of women who die suddenly of coronary heart disease display no previous symptoms.
This is startling — and scary — data. It’s enough to make your heart palpitate. That’s why cardiologist Dr. Seth Baum wants women to learn all they can about this disease — and how to prevent, detect and treat it.
“Cardiovascular disease in women is under recognized and undertreated. As a consequence often the patient herself or her physician may downplay certain symptoms that could be clues to a cardiovascular event,” says Baum, director of women’s preventive cardiology at Boca Raton Regional Hospital’s Christine E. Lynn Women’s Health & Wellness Institute.
He’ll be offering his expertise — and providing women with information on preventing, diagnosing and treating heart disease at BRRH’s Passport to Health Program at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 24 at the Wyndham Event Center in Boca Raton.
“Women are the ones who control health care. Educating them about cardiovascular risks, signs, and symptoms will empower them to be better equipped to spread the word,” notes Baum, president elect of the American Society for Preventive Cardiology. “The motto ‘an educated consumer is our best customer’ is true in medicine, too.”
Baum’s lecture is part of BRRH’s Spirit of Women program.
“At Spirit of Women, we believe that women are the lifelines of our families, of our relationships and of our communities,” notes the institute’s program development manager, Lauren Puleo. “We know that while women make 80 percent of health care decisions for their loved ones, they often push themselves too hard, and forget to care for themselves. We want to educate and excite the community about their health.”
The free program, which began in July 2014, has about 2,000 members. It offers advance notice and invitations to events and lectures, raffle prizes, monthly women’s health educational e-blasts and quarterly health e-newsletters.
It also helps acquaint the community with the hospital’s Wellness Institute, whose services include breast and pelvic care, minimally invasive robotic surgery, preventive cardiology, imaging, weight management and cardiac risk assessments (the institute is expanding and adding new services — a 46,000-square-foot building is scheduled to open in June).
Spirit of Women also participated in the Boca Raton Chamber’s Live Your Best Boca Life event with a booth and raffles. Past lectures have focused on topics including breast cancer screening, genetic testing, pelvic health and urinary incontinence.
Baum’s lecture, which will include a Q&A, will come on the heels of the 11th annual National Wear Red Day. The event, founded by the American Heart Association and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, was designed to “take action against a disease that was claiming the lives of nearly 500,000 American women each year — a disease that women weren’t paying attention to. A disease they truly believed, and many still believe to this day, affects more men than women,” according to the National Wear Red Day website.
That’s one of the messages Baum hopes to get across. He’ll also discuss gender-specific risk factors — such as pregnancy-related problems including high blood pressure and elevated blood sugar, and even the size or prematurity of one’s baby — that increase the chance of a woman having a cardiovascular event in the future.
“I want to clear up some myths and help women understand the disease and how to stave it off,” says Baum.
One of those myths: Heart disease is for the older generation. Not so. Risk factors such as obesity and Type 2 diabetes are becoming more common in younger women. And he notes: “Patients with a common genetic cholesterol disorder, familial hypercholesterolemia, can experience heart disease at extraordinarily young ages.”
The differences between men’s and women’s bodies are apparent during a heart attack as well as during treatments for heart disease, he says.
“Women typically have classic chest pain when they are having a heart attack, but they can also have other symptoms. Some women think if they get chest pains they don’t have to worry. This misconception has made women believe they can’t experience classic angina,” Baum explains. “Women’s small vessels respond differently from those of men. Some of those responses may lead to differences in how they manifest symptoms.”
Here’s another startling fact, just in time for Valentine’s Day: Married men have a lower likelihood of having a cardiovascular event than single men. But married women? Not so much.
“They have more of a likelihood of a cardiovascular event than single women. This distinction may relate to women as caretakers; they don’t take of themselves because they are busy taking care of others,” says Baum, a Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons grad.
To register for Dr. Baum’s lecture, call Puleo 955-5348 or email lpuleo@brrh.com.
For more information about the Spirit of Women program, visit www.brrh.com/Spirit_Of_Women.aspx
Myth vs. fact: Heart disease misconceptions
As easy as it is to make small changes for a big impact on your heart health, experts say one of the challenges is common misconceptions about heart disease. Here are three myths that doctors want to bust about heart disease.
Myth: “I don’t have to worry because I’m still young. Isn’t heart disease for old people?”
Fact: Obesity, Type 2 diabetes and other heart health risk factors are becoming more common in younger people. And if you use birth control pills or smoke, you need to be even more aware of your heart health.
Myth: “Heart attacks happen mostly to men.”
Fact: Heart disease actually kills more women than men, and more than all types of cancer combined. One in three American women’s deaths is from heart disease or stroke every year.
Myth: “I’ll know if I’m having heart problems because I’ll feel it in my chest.”
Fact: Many people, particularly women, have heart attack symptoms that are less obvious.
Source: Spirit of Women monthly e-newsletter (November issue)
Linda Haase is a freelance writer on a quest to learn — and share — all she can about how to get and stay healthy. Reach her at lindwrites76@gmail.com.
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