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Women's Heart Health
Penny Anderson Women’s Cardiovascular Center
Our goal is to advance the understanding of heart and vascular disease in women, how to prevent it and how to optimize patient care.
Hope Health & Heart Panelists
Heart Research for Her
Closing the Gap in Women’s Heart Research
Heart disease kills more women than all cancers, Alzheimer’s, and respiratory diseases combined—yet women remain under-studied, under-diagnosed, and under-treated.
Our team leads innovative research to uncover risk factors unique to women and turn these insights into better care practices. By increasing women’s representation in clinical trials, we can bridge knowledge gaps and reduce care disparities between men and women.
Women face both traditional and unique heart risks, including pregnancy-related conditions (like pre-eclampsia, hypertension and gestational diabetes), autoimmune disease, and breast cancer treatment. It’s time to empower women and their providers with the knowledge to prevent and manage heart disease—and help women live longer, healthier lives.
Thank You to Penny Anderson
Penny Anderson’s extraordinary gift is helping MHIF close the gap in heart care for women through the establishment of the Penny Anderson Women’s Cardiovascular Center.
Women’s Cardiovascular Health Findings
Cumulative Risk
Women’s cardiovascular disease risk begins at birth and continues through all stages of a lifetime.
Perception of Heart Disease
Fewer than 1 in 2 women perceive heart disease to be their greatest health threat
Assessing Outcomes
1 in 5 women dies from cardiovascular disease
Understanding Women’s Risks for Heart Disease
- More than 7 in 10 women do not know that they have heart disease until they have a heart attack. Use this online resource to calculate your risk for cardiovascular disease or ask your primary care provider to calculate your risk.
There are several non-traditional risk factors that contribute to cardiovascular disease as well, such as autoimmune disorders, cancer treatment and depression that lead to greater cumulative risk.
Cardiac imaging - commonly called a heart scan, a cardiac calcium score is a noninvasive X-ray technology with a computed tomography (CT) scanner to determine the amount of calcium (plaque) that is in the arteries of your heart.
- A heart scan gives you an inside view of your heart's health complete with a personalized calcium score. Learn more about heart scans and how to make an appointment here.
- Be active - Aim for at least 150 minutes of weekly activity. It not only helps you reduce your risk for a heart attack, but helps you manage your weight, manage stress, and manage your blood pressure and cholesterol too.
- Eat healthfully - Include at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables each day. Eat more plant-based foods, choose healthy fats and avoid added sugars.
- Don't smoke - If you are a smoker, quitting is considered to be the single best thing you can do to improve your health. Take steps to avoid secondhand smoke.
- Maintain a healthy body weight - Even a small amount of weight loss (between 5% and 10% of your current weight) will help you lower your risk for a heart attack.
- Know your numbers - Manage your blood pressure (ideally <120/80), blood glucose (fasting <100mg/dL) and cholesterol (HDL or "good" cholesterol >50 and LDL "bad" cholesterol <100).
- Talk to your doctor regularly - Discuss your personal risk factors for heart disease, including your age and family history. Based on your overall risk for heart disease, your doctor may recommend preventative medications such as aspirin, blood pressure medication or a cholesterol-lowering age
During sleep your heart and vascular system get a much-needed chance to rest. As you enter deeper sleep, your heart rate and blood pressure slow down. Changes in heart rate and breathing during the night promote heart and vascular disease. A lack of sleep can trigger stress hormones that keep your blood pressure from dropping and promote chronic inflammation, putting the heart at increased risk.
To learn more about sleep and heart disease, click below to view and print helpful information:
For women with heart disease, contraceptive and pregnancy planning are essential to optimize your health. Deciding the type of birth control to use involves careful consideration of factors such as the contraceptive’s safety, effectiveness, and importantly, your preference.
Many factors can impact the best option for you, including your goals, health history, and any medications or supplements you may be taking.
Your heart health team can help you decide what’s best for you. To learn more about your options, click the links below to view and print helpful information:
- Pregnancy: Women face unique risk factors in pregnancy that increase their risk of cardiovascular disease both in the short and long term. Conditions such as pregnancy-induced hypertension, preeclampsia and gestational diabetes confer a two- to seven-fold risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Learn more
- Menopause: Some things get better with age — going through menopause usually doesn’t make the list. As if hot flashes, night sweats and mood changes were not enough, complex hormonal changes that take place during menopause increase a woman’s risk for heart and vascular disease. This risk is exacerbated in women who experience menopause between ages 40-44. They are actually 40 percent more likely to suffer from heart and vascular disease, including having a heart attack, severe chest pain or stroke.
- Pregnancy Resources (PDF)
- Postpartum Resources (PDF)
- Provider Resources (PDF)
Chest pain is the number one symptom of heart attack in men and women. Women may also have additional symptoms of a heart attack. While classic heart attack symptoms—like severe chest pain; jaw, neck, or back pain; nausea and shortness of breath do occur in women, they may also experience:
- Chest discomfort (not always severe)
- Indigestion
- Fainting
- Extreme fatigue
- A sense that “something isn’t right”
Because these symptoms can be subtle or associated with something else, women may delay seeking care. To make matters worse, research shows that women who arrive to the emergency room with heart symptoms are less likely to be treated as a medical emergency. They are less likely to receive an electrocardiogram, cardiac monitoring, cardiologist consultation or hospital admission when they do seek help. This makes self-advocating crucial.
Resources for Heart Disease Prevention
MHIF is advancing prevention through innovative research that uses data to better identify risk, understand early warning signs, and uncover the most effective ways to keep hearts healthy.
2 Active Women's Heart Health Studies
Our team leads studies focused on how heart and vascular disease uniquely affect women across multiple risk factors, stages of life, and conditions like pregnancy and menopause.
Jean's Story
Hear From Our Patients
“I decided to have a coronary calcium scan, and when it came back it showed scary levels of plaque in my arteries. So that was really the wake up call that I needed.”
—Jean, Hypertension Patient
Research Publications
MHIF’s women’s heart health experts are advancing research that helps us better understand, prevent, and treat heart disease in women. Explore some of our recent publications that are driving progress for women’s cardiovascular care.
Meet the Women's Health Team
Stay Connected
Keep up to date on MHIF news, events and the latest information on heart disease treatment and prevention.