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Heart failure and women
About 2.5 million women in the United States have heart failure, and they account for nearly half of all hospital admissions for the disease. Many features of the disease are similar in women and men, but there are important differences:
- Women tend to develop congestive heart failure at an older age than do men.
- Women tend to develop diastolic heart failure with a more normal ejection fraction than do men. (Ejection fraction is the measurement of how much blood is being pumped out of the left ventricle of the heart.) Heart failure can occur as a result of a weakened heart muscle (systolic heart failure) or a stiff, inflexible heart muscle (diastolic heart failure). The causes of heart failure in women are often linked to high blood pressure and diabetes mellitus.
- Although the signs and symptoms of heart failure are the same in men and women, women tend to have more symptoms (such as shortness of breath and difficulty exercising) than do men.
- Women generally survive longer than men with heart failure, but they have more difficulty performing normal daily activities than do men.
- Depression associated with heart failure is more common in women than in men.
- Although rare, peripartum cardiomyopathy is a cause of heart failure unique to women. Peripartum cardiomyopathy is the rare development of heart failure within the last month of pregnancy, or within five months after delivery. Peripartum cardiomyopathy occurs without an identifiable cause.
While there is still much to learn about the diagnosis and treatment of heart failure in women, the goals of treatment are the same for men and women: symptom relief, preventing progression of the condition, and improving quality of life. Treatment options also are the same for women and men, including lifestyle changes, medications, devices, and surgery.
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