Matters of the heart and women

MANILA, Philippines - Some may think that men are more prone to heart disease than women. In reality, though, heart disease is one of the leading causes of death among women: the older a woman gets, the more likely she is prone to heart disease.

The even sadder part about this is women are less likely to survive after a heart attack. Dr. Jeffrey Berger, assistant professor of medicine and director of cardiovascular thrombosis at New York University, said, “The difference (between men and women) can be attributed to well-known clinical and angiographic characteristics such as age and the presence of other illnesses.”

Although heart disease can be blamed on one’s family history, doctors would still agree that adopting a healthy lifestyle can keep heart problems at bay.

Avoid smoking. In recent years, more and more Filipinas have been keen to smoking. Thing is, smoking is one of the major causes of heart diseases among females. Moreover, women smokers on birth control pills are on even higher risk of heart disease. There are various ways to quit this habit, but you can also ask a doctor to give you a more effective means to quit smoking.

Manage your blood pressure and cholesterol level. High blood pressure and high cholesterol level are major causes of heart failure. Too much fat and salt in one’s diet, being overweight, and lack of exercise can raise one’s blood pressure and cholesterol level, so it’s best to change one’s lifestyle.

Maintain a healthy weight. Extra weight can strain the heart and the arteries. Aside from heart disease, having too much weight can put you on a higher risk to have other diseases like diabetes.

Eat a healthy diet. Better stick to a low-fat diet and keep fat calories to 30 percent or less. You should also avoid saturated fat. It’s also best to eat more fish. Women who consumed fish regularly had a 40-percent lower risk of heart disease. Eating deep-sea fish (not any type of fish) five times per week reduced heart disease risk by as much as 64 percent and overall mortality by 52 percent.  

Based on treatment guidelines, eating deep-sea fish regularly is the ideal thing to do, but if this is not possible, like in people who don’t eat fish, taking fish oil supplements is the next best thing.

A recent study also showed that fish oil supplements, besides regular fish intake, is advisable for diabetic women to lower the risk of heart disease and its complications.

A study conducted in France showed that a diet rich in fish oil is beneficial but taking fish oil supplement would be easier and can ensure a stable effect on diabetic women.

Fish oil softgels would also be a more convenient option for those who don’t eat fish.

In the study, the researchers found that two months of daily fish oil supplements reduce fat deposits and markers for clogging of arteries in women with type 2 diabetes.

Omegabloc is one of the brands of omega-3 fish oil locally available in Mercury and other leading drug stores. It has been available in the country for more than 10 years. Usual recommended dose is one softgel capsule two to three times daily.

Omegabloc comes from NOW Foods in the United States, one of the top manufacturers of vitamins and food supplements worldwide. NOW Foods is represented in the Philippines by Trianon International.

Omegabloc is an over-the counter product and requires no prescription, but many doctors are now prescribing it to their patients with established heart disease or those with multiple risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, cholesterol problems, obesity, and smoking.

According to Charles Cultura, Trianon national sales and marketing manager, provincial distributors are welcome and interested parties may call 892-0723 or 24 or text 0917-8858786.