Chad Lundquist/Nevada Appeal Caroline Case, 62, a registered and home health-care nurse was diagnosed with cardiovascular disease in 2000. Case will be wearing a red shirt on Friday to promote awareness of heart disease in women.
Caroline Case was ready to relax. She had raised her children, retired from her 25-year career with the state, and was looking forward to starting a new vocation in home-health care. Then one day, five years ago, her right arm went numb.
Her arm was like wood. She had to pick it up by the wrist to move it. Then Case did something she regrets: She waited until the next day to go to her Carson City doctor. She was scared, and in denial.
Her arm went numb from a temporary inclusion, or blockage, of an artery in her neck. The 62-year-old, lifelong Carson City woman was diagnosed with cardiovascular disease in 2000. Eventually, the feeling came back into her arm. She was lucky.
Case had cholesterol build up removed from the carotid artery in her neck, which had prevented blood flow to the brain, causing the numbness. Interventional cardiologist Dr. Carl Juneau also cleared out two blocked arteries located in the back of her heart and implanted cardiac stents, metal objects resembling scaffolding that opened up the arteries.
At the time, she didn't consider her family history as an indicator - her mother and grandfather had died of heart disease. On Friday, Case will be wearing a red shirt as part of the nationwide Wear Red for Women day to promote awareness of heart disease in women.
"Report any abnormal symptoms to your physician," Case said. "You need to have an annual medical check-up. You need to have an annual cholesterol test. You need to have your blood pressure under control. You need to exercise regularly and keep your weight under control."
Juneau, who practices at Carson Tahoe Regional Medical Center, said four women out of 10 die every year from heart disease. More people die of heart disease a year in America than the other top four causes of mortality combined.
Although it is the leading cause of death for women, only 13 percent of women surveyed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considered the disease their greatest health risk. Heart disease takes the lives of more than 480,000 women a year, which is more than men, according to the American Heart Association.
Juneau said risk for heart disease increases in those who are smokers, or who have a family history of heart disease, high cholesterol, diabetes or a less-active lifestyle.
"If you have some of these factors, you have to be aware that you are at risk," he said. "Especially if you have a family history. You should be aware if your father had a heart attack at 55."
The classic symptom of heart disease is the pressure in the chest during exercise, but that isn't necessarily true for everyone. Men report the crushing pain in the chest, while women feel short of breath, sweaty and nauseated.
"The symptoms can be more varied," Juneau said. "Women tend to ignore the symptoms because they're not usual. Women's symptoms tend to be more diverse."
-- Contact reporter Becky Bosshart at bbosshart@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.
Wear Red for Women Day
Wearing red on Friday shows support of ongoing research and education about heart disease, the leading cause of death in America for men and women.
On the Net
American Heart Association
www.americanheart.org/
Studies
Journal of the American College of Cardiology
www.cardiosource.com
Circulation
Journal of the American Heart Association
circ.ahajournals.org