Welcome to the Women's Heart Center at Phoenix Heart

Women and Heart DiseaseThe Women’s Heart Center specializes in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of heart disease in Women.  The physician’s and staff provide a specialized and focused environment specifically for this area of medicine which recognizes that the signs and symptoms of heart disease in women are not the same as for men.

Heart Disease is the #1 Killer of American Women

Heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases are the #1 killer of American women- killing nearly 12 times as many American females as breast cancer.  In fact, more women than men die from cardiovascular diseases each year.  And yet, women are less likely to receive aggressive treatment for heart disease and stroke than men and are more likely than men to die within one year of their first heart attack.

At this time there is federal legislation pending: the HEART for Women Act (H.R. 1014/S. 573). This bipartisan legislation is needed to help make women and their healthcare providers aware that cardiovascular disease is not just a “man’s disease” and to address disparities in the diagnosis and treatment of heart disease and stroke in women.

Which Women are Most at Risk for Heart Disease?

  1. The age-adjusted rate of heart disease for African American women is 72% higher than for white women.
  2. Women who smoke risk having a heart attack 19 years earlier than non-smoking women
  3. Women with diabetes are two to three times more likely to have heart attacks.
  4. High blood pressure is more common in women taking oral contraceptives, especially in obese women.

Comparing Heart Disease in Women to Heart Disease in Men

  1. 38% of women and 25% of men will die within one year of a first heart attack.
  2. 35% of women and 18% of men heart attack survivors will have another heart attack within six years.
  3. Women are almost twice as likely as men to die after bypass surgery.
  4. Women are less likely than men to receive beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors or aspirin after a heart attack.
  5. Women receive only:
    • 33% of angioplasties, stents and bypass surgeries
    • 28% of implantable defibrillatrors and
    • 36% of open-heart surgeries
  6. Women comprise only 25% of participants in all heart-related studies

*All above statistics reference from WomenHeart.org, August 2008

For More Information

We recommend checking out the following websites:

  1. www.womenheart.org
  2. www.americanheart.org
  3. www.sistertosister.org