Heart Disease and Women:
The Importance of Prevention
a conversation with Ellen Urrutia, MD
H
eart disease is an
important subject many
women tend not to
think about—yet it is the leading
cause of death in women in the
US. Cardiologist Ellen Urrutia,
MD, urges us to pay attention.
“As women, we should be
focused on preventing stroke,
heart attack, and heart failure,”
says Dr. Urrutia. “We cannot
change our genetics, so we
need to focus on the things we
can control, such as high blood
pressure, unhealthy cholesterol
levels, high blood sugar, excess
weight, and lack of exercise. It’s
all about prevention.”
“A number of people in my own
family had strokes and heart
attacks at a young age,” she says.
“That has motivated me to make
a difference in my own health, as
well as to help make a difference
in the health of others.”
“Women tend to rationalize
their symptoms,” she adds.
”They feel good, and because
nothing is obviously wrong, they
assume they are fine. But they
may not be fine. As a physician,
I often have to tease out of my
patients what is really going on
beneath the surface, to catch
things early.”
“Stroke, for example,” she says,
“can be extremely debilitating.
You can lose your independence;
you can be debilitated for 30
years. As a cardiologist, I want
to prevent that. We need to be
thinking about decades from
now. You don’t want to end up
walking around with congestive
heart failure. Let’s try to prevent
that, too.”