Women have many stress hormone receptors in their arteries and cardiac muscle for hormones called catecholamines. Their coronary arteries (arteries irrigating the heart) are also smaller than men’s. All of this makes women more vulnerable to coronary artery spasms where stress triggers an artery to [...]
Tobacco is the most alarming avoidable risk factor because it’s responsible for the earliest cardiovascular events in women. At any age, for the same rate of tobacco use, the risk of heart attacks is 25% higher for women than men. Tobacco is harmful for the heart and arteries, no matter how much is [...]
In the majority of cases, chronic heart failure is a contraindication to pregnancy because it could put the mother’s life in danger. During pregnancy and delivery, her heart has to work very hard. Certain medications prescribed for heart failure are known to cause birth defects (they’re considered [...]