BETTERHEALTH
d u rin g e x e rc is e is 111-14 5 b e a ts
p e r m in u te . T h is n e w fo rm u la
a lso m ig h t p re v e n t fa ls e p o s itiv e s
on c a rd ia c s tre s s te s ts , w h ich are
d e sig n e d to p ick u p on p ro b le m s b y
m o n ito rin g (a m o n g o th e r v a ria b le s)
h o w c lo s e ly th e h e a rt co m e s to
h ittin g its m ax.
STATINS WARRANT
A SECOND LOOK
R o u g h ly 13.5 p e rc e n t o f A m e ric a n
w o m e n b e tw e e n th e a g e s o f 45 and
64 ta k e s ta tin s , d ru g s aim e d at
p re v e n tin g h a rm fu l L D L c h o le s te ro l
Sue A n d rew s, 53,
C leveland
“ I thought I
was just getting
the flu.”
fro m b u ild in g up in a rte rie s . B ut
w h e n re se a rc h e rs b ro k e o u t th e
sta ts b y s e x in a la rg e s tu d y in
2 0 0 9 , th e y d isc o v e re d th e d ru g s
s ig n ific a n tly lo w e r th e risk o f h e a rt
a tta c k o r d e a th o n ly fo r w o m e n
w h o a lre a d y h a ve h e a rt d ise a se .
(H e a lth y m en , o n th e o th e r h a n d ,
d o see a p re v e n tiv e b e n e fit.) A n d th e
c o n c e rn s d o n ’t sto p th e re . S ta tin s
ca n ca u se sid e e ffe c ts su ch as m u scle
p a in , G I d is tre s s , an d m e m o ry
p ro b le m s. In a d d itio n , w o m e n h ave
a g re a te r risk o f d e v e lo p in g ty p e 2
d ia b e te s w h ile o n th e d ru g s th a n
m en d o. “ F or m a n y w o m e n w h o d o
n o t a lre a d y h ave h e a rt d ise a se , th e
a d v e rse e ffe c ts o f s ta tin s o u tw e ig h
th e b e n e fits th e y ’re lik e ly to d e riv e ,”
sa ys V io la V a c c a rin o , M .D ., ch a ir
o f e p id e m io lo g y a t th e E m o ry
U n iv e rs ity R o llin s S ch o o l o f P u b lic
H ea lth in A tla n ta . I f y o u ’ve b e e n
ta k in g a s ta tin fo r h ig h c h o le s te ro l
and a re e x p e rie n c in g sid e e ffe c ts ,
ask y o u r d o c to r i f y o u n eed to
c o n tin u e . F or so m e w o m e n th e
a n s w e r w ill b e y e s (say, b e ca u se o f
K e y s y m p t o m s : d i z z i n e s s , i n t e r m i t t e n t a c h i n e s s a n d w e a k n e s s
“It happened th ree years ago, around
9 :3 0
on a norm al M onday m orning. I
had ju st begun giving a presentation to my colleagues w hen I noticed I w as
becom ing very dizzy and clam m y—alm ost like you’d feel if you w ere having
an anxiety attack. I also felt p ressu re in my chest, w hich th en subsided and
m orphed into a pain across my shoulder blades.
T h a t ' s w e i r d
, I thought.
I ' m
n o t n e r v o u s o r a n x i o u s , s o l g u e s s I ' m j u s t c o m i n g d o w n w i t h s o m e t h i n g .
I w ent
ahead w ith m y p resen tatio n , trying to h u rry it a bit because I w anted to get
it over w ith. At one point I had to pull up a chair and sit dow n to alleviate the
dizziness. A pparently I hid my d istress well because a num ber of my cow orkers
later told me th ey never suspected anything w as w rong.
“I finally w rapped up th e m eeting about
4 0
m inutes later. Still feeling strange,
I w ent to th e office kitchen, got m yself a glass of w ater and m ade my w ay back
to my desk. W hen th e feeling didn’t pass, I called my husband and said, T think
I m ust be getting som e kind of flu. I’m going to head hom e and go to bed.’
He
offered to pick me up instead.
“Fortunately, m y husband in sisted I see a doctor. So w e w ent to a local w alk-in
clinic, w here th e physician on duty listened to my sym ptom s and perform ed
an EKG. The resu lts w ere ‘slightly off,’ he said, so he in stru c te d me to go to the
em ergency room for som e blood te sts. No one m entioned anything to m e about
th e possibility of a h e a rt attack.
“I got to th e E.R. around
1 2
:
3 0
. A fter repeating my sym ptom s at th e check-
in desk, I w as inform ed I’d have to w ait my tu rn . So I tried to m ake m yself
com fortable in th e w aiting room as I w atched people come and go. W hen a
m an cam e in w ith chest pains, th ey rushed him in ahead of everybody. I looked
at him , thinking, I
w o n d e r i f h e ' s h a v i n g a h e a r t a t t a c k —
never believing th a t I
m ight be, too. Fully th ree hours after I arrived, th ey called m e in. I repeated
everything to the nurse. A team took blood sam ples and sta rte d doing lots
of tests. Finally a doctor cam e in and announced, ‘W e’re going to adm it you.
You’ve had a h eart attack .’ I don’t know w hich is m ore incredible—th a t it took
so long for me to get a diagnosis, or th a t I survived th e w ait.”
