NIH:年轻女性的心脏病风险

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http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_54931.html
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Young women less attentive to heart risks than men
By Amy Norton

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Young women with a family history of heart disease may be less careful about following a healthy lifestyle than their male counterparts, a study has found.

It's well known that people with a parent or sibling who suffered a heart attack at a relatively young age are themselves at higher-than-average risk, so it is especially important for them to maintain a heart-healthy lifestyle -- which includes exercising, eating a balanced diet and not smoking.

The new study, published in the American Heart Journal, found that younger women may be less likely than men to heed this advice.

\"Some of them are getting the message,\" senior study author Dr. Amit Khera told Reuters Health, \"but not nearly as much as men.\"

Heart disease was once widely thought of as a \"man's\" disease. Although this is changing, some women -- even those with a family history of early heart problems -- still underestimate their risk, according to Khera, an assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

For their study, Khera and his colleagues looked at more than 2,400 men and women between the ages of 30 and 50, of whom 265 had a family history of premature heart disease. This was defined as having a father or brother who suffered a heart attack before the age of 50, or a mother or sister who suffered one before age 55.

Among women, the researchers found, those with a family history were more likely than other women to have multiple other risk factors for heart disease -- such as smoking, excess weight and high blood pressure. Just about half (49 percent) had at least two heart risk factors, versus 39 percent of women with no family history of early heart disease.

Much narrower differences were seen among men, however. What's more, men with a family history tended to be more physically active than other men their age.

In contrast, their female counterparts were just as likely to sedentary as women without a family history of heart problems.

Part of the problem, Khera noted, may be that health providers are not as likely to ask women about their family history of heart disease, or to counsel them on ways to cut heart disease risk.

It's important for all women to be aware of their family history, and to know that premature heart disease -- whether in a male or female relative -- is relevant to them, according to Khera.

No matter how young they are, he said, women with a family history should be taking steps to protect their hearts, through diet, exercise and not smoking. They should also see their doctors for routine medical screenings, including blood pressure and cholesterol measurements, he advised.

SOURCE: American Heart Journal, September 2007.




年轻的女同胞们，不能对心脏病掉以轻心！

纽约（路透社健康）最近研究表明有心脏病家族史的年轻女同胞们可能比男性伴侣更少注意自己的健康生活方式。（American Heart Journal, September 2007）

我们都知道有父母或兄弟姐妹患心脏病发作的人，在比较年轻的时候他们自己的心脏病发作的风险高于平均水平，因此他们保持健康的生活方式是非常重要的，健康的生活方式包括锻炼，饮食均衡，不吸烟。

在美国心脏杂志上发表的一项新研究表明较年轻的女性和男性相比，很少注意这个忠告。

“他们中有些人正在获取信息，”路透通讯社健康作者Dr. Amit Khera进行的大型研究，“但是不清楚是不是和大多数男人一样。”

心脏病曾经被广泛认为是“男人的”疾病。虽然现在正在发生变化，一些女同胞们（甚至是有早期心脏问题家族史的女同胞们）仍然不理解他们的风险，根据一个位于达拉斯西南部医学中心的得克萨斯大学内科学的一位教授的助手Khera的研究报道。

Khera和他的同事们进行研究，调查了了2400多名年龄在30－50岁之间的男性和女性，其中265名有早期心脏病家族史。早期心脏病是指父亲或者兄弟在50岁之前有心脏病发作，或者母亲和姐妹在55岁之前有心脏病发作。

在女性中，研究人员发现有家族史的女同胞们比其他女性有更多的导致心脏病的风险因素－比如吸烟，体重过重和高血压。恰恰有大约一半（49％）的人至少有两个心脏病风险因素，而39％的女同胞们没有早期心脏病家族史。
然而，在男性总差别很小。大多数指的是什么呢？有家族史的男性比同龄的其他男性更注重身体的锻炼。

相反，他们的女性伴侣常常坐着不运动，同没有心脏问题家族史的其他女性一样。

Khera注意到一些问题，可能是让这些人健康并不是象询问关于心脏病家族史的妇女那样或者劝告他们如何远离心脏病风险。

Khera劝告这些女同胞们，无论他们如何年轻，有家族史的女同胞们都应该通过饮食，锻炼和不吸烟来保护自己的心脏。他们也应该去进行常规医学筛查，包括血压和胆固醇检测。

Khera的研究认为，对所有的女同胞们来说重要的是让他们知道他们的家族史，知道早期心脏病（不论是男性还是相关的女性）是和他们有关的。