Atherosclerosis, a term used to describe diseases that involve the accumulation of plaque that leads to the gradual closure of arteries throughout the body, is widespread and often under-diagnosed among older American women, according to a report by a team of vascular surgeons from the Columbia University Medical Center and Weill Cornell Medical College campuses of New York Presbyterian Hospital. Dr. Andrew Manganaro, Life Line Screening chief medical officer, wants older women in your community to know that they are at a higher risk for developing arterial disease.
“The risk of vascular problems in women increases greatly after menopause” said Dr. Manganaro, “so it is important for older women to seek advice from their family doctor once they reach a certain age. After menopause the risk for women developing conditions like carotid stenosis, abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) and lower extremity arterial occlusive disease increases markedly.
Older women may be more likely to develop arterial vascular disease due to some of the following risk factors:
- Smoking
- Advanced age
- Family history of abdominal aortic aneurysm
- Family history of stroke
- Family history of leg amputation
- High blood pressure
- High cholesterol
- Diabetes Mellitus
- Post-menopause
In the Columbia and Weill report, researchers broke their findings about older women’s vascular health into three main disease categories and the risk factors for each condition:
1. Carotid Stenosis:
Women’s carotid and vertebral arteries are sometimes smaller than those of men, so it takes less plaque buildup to cause severe restrictions in blood flow which in turn causes carotid stenosis. Women are at higher risk of stroke.
2. Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA):
Because of unknown factors, AAA develops much later in life in women compared to men, but may rupture at a smaller size.
3. Arterial Occlusive disease (poor blood flow to the legs):
The onset of menopause increases the odds of women acquiring arterial occlusive disease which can result in restricted blood blow in the legs.
“Older women—many of whom have spent their lives caring for others—deserve to receive the best care from their physicians to help slow or prevent the development of arterial disease,” said Dr. Manganaro. “Older women need to talk with their primary care physician about being tested for carotid stenosis, abdominal aortic aneurism and arterial occlusive disease and about learning how to modify their risk factors for vascular disease.”
In addition, vascular surgeons encourage more women to become involved in clinical trials for these conditions to help further research into risk factors, disease prevention, and intervention as well as treatment outcomes. Visit clinicaltrials.gov for more information about participating in clinical trials.
The text for this article was supplied by the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS), www.VascularWeb.org.
Learn more about screening for carotid artery disease
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