Is heart disease a man's disease? Does cancer kill more women than heart disease?
Ask Grace San Agustin, R.N., B.S.N., of Beaumont's Ministrelli Women’s Heart Center those questions, you'll get an unequivocal "no." San Agustin was part of a September 24 women's health public hearing held by the Women's Commission for Oakland County in Pontiac. She told commissioners and members of the audience that one woman dies every minute as the result of cardiovascular disease (CVD).
"Women are still not aware that heart disease is a number one killer," she said, citing the results of surveys conducted by the American Heart Association. "Women are more likely to die from CVD than men."
The reasons, she explained are complex. Often women's symptoms present quite differently from men's. Women may not have the "Hollywood" heart attack, with massive crushing chest pain. "With women, we may have very vague symptoms, and that's why we are so often misdiagnosed when we go to the ER."
Women seek treatment later than men, and are usually older, meaning they suffer more "co-morbidities" or conditions such as diabetes or high cholesterol. Often their symptoms - chest pressure and shortness of breath, pain radiating to th eneck, jaw, left arm and shoulder, back pain or flu-like symptoms and fatigue - are not seen as signs of cardiac problems. And some women experience no symptoms at all.
San Agustin said the good news is that 80 percent of the factors that increase women's risk of CVD are preventable with lifestyle changes alone. Beaumont's Women's Heart Center was created to address those issues. Their program identifies women at risk at earlier ages, helps them create a personal risk reduction program and tracks their progress. In addition, the Center focuses on research and increasing community awareness.
Gail Evo, Director of Beaumont Hospitals’ Integrative Medicine Program, is also on a mission to share information about her program, and she brings a very large poster along with her. Evo tells the story of Roger Bannister, who in 1954, broke a barrier everyone thought was insurmountable. "Before that time, scientists said no human being could run a four-minute mile," she said, adding what happened after Bannister broke the record was even more remarkable. "Six months later, high school students were running sub-four miles."
That "mind over matter" kind of thinking is at the heart of the Integrative Medicine Program. "We have to understand how the mind works, and how the mind is related to the body."
Being under a constant state of stress interferes with good health and healing after illness, she explained. When the body is in a "stress response" or "fight or flight" mode, digestion and sleep don't happen, and both are vital to well being. "Everything we do elicits the parasympathetic or relaxation response," Evo said. That includes massage, Reiki, acupuncture and other holistic treatments. In Michigan, none of those are regulated, so Beaumont's Integrative Medicine Center provides a safe, clinical environment, where patients can be assured that what they're doing is actually good for them.
"A well-meaning massage therapist who is not trained can do harm," she said, adding even the most harmless sounding treatments can be dangerous for someone recovering from cancer treatment, for instance. "Massaging lymph nodes can cause lymphodema, which is a permanent condition."
About 30 percent of those who use the Center are healthy people who want to stay that way, Evo added. Treatments are very affordable; an hour massage, for instance, costs about half the industry standard rate. However, she said, a one-hour massage isn't therapeutic. "You need to be engaged regularly."
For additional information about the Ministrelli Women's Heart Center, visit https://www.beaumonthospitals.com/node/6789
For additional information about the Center for Integrative Medicine, visit https://www.beaumonthospitals.com/treatment-integrative-medicine
For information about the Women's Commission for Oakland County, or to apply for the 2010 Women's Commission visit http://www.oakgov.com/boc
Ask Grace San Agustin, R.N., B.S.N., of Beaumont's Ministrelli Women’s Heart Center those questions, you'll get an unequivocal "no." San Agustin was part of a September 24 women's health public hearing held by the Women's Commission for Oakland County in Pontiac. She told commissioners and members of the audience that one woman dies every minute as the result of cardiovascular disease (CVD).
"Women are still not aware that heart disease is a number one killer," she said, citing the results of surveys conducted by the American Heart Association. "Women are more likely to die from CVD than men."
The reasons, she explained are complex. Often women's symptoms present quite differently from men's. Women may not have the "Hollywood" heart attack, with massive crushing chest pain. "With women, we may have very vague symptoms, and that's why we are so often misdiagnosed when we go to the ER."
Women seek treatment later than men, and are usually older, meaning they suffer more "co-morbidities" or conditions such as diabetes or high cholesterol. Often their symptoms - chest pressure and shortness of breath, pain radiating to th eneck, jaw, left arm and shoulder, back pain or flu-like symptoms and fatigue - are not seen as signs of cardiac problems. And some women experience no symptoms at all.
San Agustin said the good news is that 80 percent of the factors that increase women's risk of CVD are preventable with lifestyle changes alone. Beaumont's Women's Heart Center was created to address those issues. Their program identifies women at risk at earlier ages, helps them create a personal risk reduction program and tracks their progress. In addition, the Center focuses on research and increasing community awareness.
Gail Evo, Director of Beaumont Hospitals’ Integrative Medicine Program, is also on a mission to share information about her program, and she brings a very large poster along with her. Evo tells the story of Roger Bannister, who in 1954, broke a barrier everyone thought was insurmountable. "Before that time, scientists said no human being could run a four-minute mile," she said, adding what happened after Bannister broke the record was even more remarkable. "Six months later, high school students were running sub-four miles."
That "mind over matter" kind of thinking is at the heart of the Integrative Medicine Program. "We have to understand how the mind works, and how the mind is related to the body."
Being under a constant state of stress interferes with good health and healing after illness, she explained. When the body is in a "stress response" or "fight or flight" mode, digestion and sleep don't happen, and both are vital to well being. "Everything we do elicits the parasympathetic or relaxation response," Evo said. That includes massage, Reiki, acupuncture and other holistic treatments. In Michigan, none of those are regulated, so Beaumont's Integrative Medicine Center provides a safe, clinical environment, where patients can be assured that what they're doing is actually good for them.
"A well-meaning massage therapist who is not trained can do harm," she said, adding even the most harmless sounding treatments can be dangerous for someone recovering from cancer treatment, for instance. "Massaging lymph nodes can cause lymphodema, which is a permanent condition."
About 30 percent of those who use the Center are healthy people who want to stay that way, Evo added. Treatments are very affordable; an hour massage, for instance, costs about half the industry standard rate. However, she said, a one-hour massage isn't therapeutic. "You need to be engaged regularly."
For additional information about the Ministrelli Women's Heart Center, visit https://www.beaumonthospitals.com/node/6789
For additional information about the Center for Integrative Medicine, visit https://www.beaumonthospitals.com/treatment-integrative-medicine
For information about the Women's Commission for Oakland County, or to apply for the 2010 Women's Commission visit http://www.oakgov.com/boc
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