Womens health services are hugely important in the United States – and, indeed, no matter where you go in the world. Womens health services are critical, as women do not always present with the same symptoms as men for similar conditions. Unfortunately, because of this women are far too underdiagnosed with many conditions, and many lives are lost because of this. One such instance where such things commonly occur is that of heart disease, one of the primary killers of women and men alike.
Heart disease is all too prevalent in the United States, killing significantly more than six hundred thousand people every year in this country alone. Hospitals are seeing more and more cases of heart disease, heart attack, and heart failure – particularly among older people, of whom eighty four percent will eventually die from heart disease or related complications. And a typical hospital visit – and the heart procedures such as open heart surgery that often follow – are far from expensive. Heart disease alone will cost this country as much as two hundred billion dollars in the span of just twelve months, an single calendar year. All heart care services are included in this estimate, from surgery, inability to work and the loss of a productive and contributing member of society, and the often astronomical cost of heart medications.
There are a number of factors that are likely to lead to heart disease in both men and women alike. For one, high cholesterol has been found to be a contributing factor of heart disease. Another risk factor for heart disease is that of high blood pressure. Finally, smoking has been identified as a major risk factor and cause of heart disease in people living in the United States, where smoking rates are still all too high. Of the American population, nearly half of all people living in this country have at least one of the above mentioned risk factors – and many have all three and are sitting on the precipice of severe heart disease and, potentially, even loss of life.
As any cardiologist can tell you, a main culmination of heart disease is the heart attack. Heart attacks are prevalent in the United States, with a new person suffering one around every thirty four seconds. More than seven hundred and fifty thousand people in the United States alone will suffer from a heart attack every single year, and more than two hundred thousand of these people will be suffering their second or even third heart attack.
And herein lies the huge importance of womens health services. Womens health services know that, without a doubt, heart disease and heart attacks in particular remain a huge killer of women around the country (and around the world at large). Unfortunately, heart attacks in women are too often not diagnosed – or diagnosed too late – because they present with different symptoms than a heart attack in a man will. Womens health services are crucial in recognizing these symptoms and womens health services can also work to spread awareness about them. Womens health services often provide health care that is specialized for the female body, and may be more aware of these diverging symptoms – and therefore more able to provide the essential and often life saving treatment that the woman in question is in need of.
Heart disease is all too common in the United States, with far too many dying from heart attacks and other causes related to heart disease each and every year. It is important that we study the causes of heart disease so that we can better treat it, as well as identifying the risk factors for it.
