When it comes to heart health, the focus is often on men. The University of Bergen in Norway recently released studies that show women, especially those over 40, should be conscientious about their heart health by monitoring their blood pressure. Women’s blood pressure can be an indicator of future issues.
Even Women Who Feel Healthy Need To Monitor Their Blood Pressure
Women are strongly advised to have their primary care doctors monitor their blood pressure regularly, even if they don’t have symptoms of heart trouble currently. It’s been shown in studies that women with slightly elevated blood pressure levels in their early 40s can be double as likely to experience serious heart troubles by their 50s. This includes heart attacks.
When deciding how concerning a woman’s blood pressure levels are, multiple factors are taken into consideration. Diabetes, obesity, family history, and more will be assessed. Doctors will choose how often to monitor each woman based on these things.
Higher Blood Pressure In Women Could Be More Significant Than In Men
Middle-aged and younger women often have a lower blood pressure than men, but the high blood pressure level threshold for men and women is the same. By the time women meet the threshold, their blood pressure is much higher than it should be already. Studies have also indicated that high blood pressure in women is a bigger risk factor for heart disease than it is in men.
It has been shown that women with even mildly elevated blood pressure were twice as likely to have serious midlife heart issues.
What May Cause These Differences?
One theory is that women’s small arteries are more strongly impacted than men’s by higher blood pressure. Beginning in their 30s, women may experience a sharp increase in blood pressure. Due to the fact high blood pressure thresholds are not different for each sex, the elevation is far more for women by the time they reach the threshold. Women’s bodies are being negatively impacted by their elevated blood pressures well before they’re considered “too high” medically speaking. This is something some professionals are saying needs to be changed to help women keep healthy as long as possible. Take heart health seriously.