The holiday season can be a joyful time, but for many women, it also brings extra stress. Busy schedules, family responsibilities, and high expectations can feel overwhelming.
On top of that, many women ignore signs that something might be wrong with their heart. This is especially concerning because heart disease is the number one cause of death for both men and women. In fact, more women die of heart disease than of breast cancer.
Taking care of your heart means knowing what can increase your risk, recognizing symptoms early, and getting the right treatment.
Traditional risk factors for heart disease include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking, and obesity. But stress, anxiety, and depression—what doctors call nontraditional risk factors—also have a big impact on your heart health. These emotional pressures are often overlooked, even though they can be just as harmful as physical risk factors.
Stress can come from many life events, such as a divorce, the death of a loved one, job troubles, long-term illness, or a natural disaster. These are called psychosocial stressors. Studies show that high stress levels and depression are linked to a higher risk of heart attacks. They can also slow down recovery after a heart attack.
When you’re stressed, your body reacts. Your blood pressure may rise, and your body may produce more stress hormones like cortisol.
These hormones can change how your heart works and lead to plaque buildup in your arteries. Stress can also lead to unhealthy habits like overeating, drinking too much, skipping exercise, or using drugs or alcohol—all of which increase your risk of heart disease.
Extreme stress, even if it lasts only a short time, can cause a condition known as broken heart syndrome. It’s a temporary kind of heart failure, usually triggered by intense emotional events. It’s also called takotsubo cardiomyopathy or stress cardiomyopathy. Even though it’s temporary, it can be serious and needs medical attention.
Women, even younger ones, should take heart disease seriously. Women under 65—especially those with a family history of heart problems—need to watch out for risk factors such as diabetes, mental stress, depression, smoking, lack of physical activity, and drinking alcohol.
Other risks include going through menopause before age 40, pregnancy complications like high blood pressure or diabetes, or inflammatory diseases like lupus or rheumatoid arthritis.
Heart disease doesn’t always show up the same way in women as it does in men. While both may feel chest pain or pressure, women are more likely to feel other symptoms like pain in the neck, jaw, back, or stomach, shortness of breath, pain in one or both arms, nausea, sweating, dizziness, or feeling unusually tired.
The holidays are meant to be a happy time, but the pressure to make everything perfect can cause stress. People may expect family gatherings to be picture-perfect, with beautiful decorations, favorite songs, and delicious meals. But when real life doesn’t match those expectations, stress can grow.
One way to cope is to sit down with your family and write out what would truly make the holidays enjoyable. Let go of anything that causes stress but brings no joy.
You can also make lifestyle changes to protect your heart all year long. Exercise regularly, try relaxation techniques like deep breathing, stay connected to your spiritual beliefs, and seek help from a counselor if needed. Eating a healthy diet, limiting alcohol, quitting smoking, and keeping an eye on your heart health are all important steps too.
Taking care of your heart is one of the best gifts you can give yourself—during the holidays and beyond.
If you care about heart health, please read studies that Changing blood pressure readings is a hidden sign of heart disease and common type 2 diabetes drugs may raise heart risk.
If you care about heart health, please read studies about root cause of heart rhythm disorders and Warning signal from the kidneys can predict future heart failure risk.
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