The Key to a Healthy Woman's Heart

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1:27Message and data rates may apply. JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. Member FDIC. Copyright 2026. JPMorgan Chase and Company. Bloomberg Audio Studios. Podcasts. Radio. News. You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Tim Stenevek on Bloomberg Radio. Well, Scientific American recently writing about how heart disease is the top cause of death for women in the United States, kills more of them than all forms of cancer combined. And it notes, quote, the unique signs and symptoms of heart disease in women are more likely to go undetected and untreated, Tim, than those in men.

2:10Dr. Joy Gelbman:And a new study out notes that it may be about to get worse. The study published today in circulation also shows an alarming uptick of disease in younger women. Nearly a third of all women between ages 22 and 44 will be diagnosed with some form of cardiovascular disease by 2050. All right, let's get to it. Time for the Bloomberg Business Week. Women's Health segment where we focus on key issues in developing technologies that are impacting the present and future of women's health around the world. We do welcome Dr. Joy Gelman, Associate Professor of Medicine and Board Certified Cardiologist at Weill Cornell Medicine, joining us in New York City.

2:47Dr. Gelman, share with us a bit more when it comes to the reality of heart disease in women. We laid it out a little bit in the introduction and kind of what are the common cases that you often see? Well, first of all, thank you so much for having me and highlighting this extremely important issue for women, which is that it's been known for decades that heart disease is the number one killer of women. And unfortunately, that not only is not improving, but as you pointed out, we're learning that as recently as, you know, today that the American Heart Association is forecasting that the burden of heart disease and stroke in women is projected to increase to a point at which six out of 10 women is expected to have some degree of heart disease by 2050.

3:46And even though it's known in the medical world, unfortunately, the messaging does not always seem to get to the people who need to know. And by that, I mean women. And so it's, you know, it's February, it's Heart Disease Awareness Month. And so I'm so glad that you're shining a light on this important issue.

4:08Dr. Joy Gelbman:Well, I think there's this challenge with medical communication too and the way that we think about what heart disease is. So I have a lot of really basic questions that I just want to get to. How do you define heart disease? How does the American Heart Association define heart disease? You know, it's a good question. I would say that it's sort of an umbrella term that encompasses a lot of different conditions ranging from coronary artery disease to heart rhythm problems to structure and functional problems of the heart muscle. So I would, you know, it's when people are filling out forms in the medical offices, they sometimes wonder, do I have heart disease?

4:46I have hypertension. So risk factors for heart disease, I would include in that umbrella, too. And in this report from the American Heart Association that's projecting the increased burden, it's mainly driven by an increased prevalence in risk factors for heart disease. And by that, I mean things like high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, smoking. but one thing I will point out that there are risk factors that are actually specific to women that sometimes women don't always know and sometimes even the doctors don't always ask about and I definitely want to highlight specifically there's some adverse outcomes in pregnancy so hypertensive disorders in pregnancy preeclampsia gestational diabetes these are conditions that, of course, are specific to women that do increase their risk of heart disease down the road.

5:44And sometimes in all the excitement and commotion of having a new baby and adjusting, that either doesn't get communicated or gets communicated, but not fully absorbed. So I definitely want to highlight those factors here. Why is it sometimes underdiagnosed or not necessarily asked about from doctor to patient when it comes to women? And I hate to say this, but I don't think I'm tearing back something on something that isn't known. But you know this, doctor. I mean, it just feels like the gaps when it comes to women versus men, when they're in with a doctor and things that aren't asked or things that go undetected or things that are dismissed.

6:28I you're exactly right about that so I think there's a few reasons why there's sort of an under diagnosis and under treatment of women when it comes to heart disease number one as we pointed out women sometimes don't know they don't think that they're going to get heart disease maybe they think breast cancer is the thing that they should really be you know the breast cancer campaign the pink ribbon that's been a you know a very strong public awareness campaign And so, you know, I think a lot of women think, oh, that's for men. That's the old guy shoveling snow who's clutching their chest. I was shoveling snow this week just to let you know.

7:07Hopefully small light piles. So that's number one is they don't think it's going to happen to them. Yeah. Number two, women also don't always have the typical symptoms like you might see portrayed in the movies where, you know, you see someone just clutching their chest or an elephant sitting on my chest. That's kind of a, you know, textbook description that even doctors learn about in medical school. Women sometimes can have atypical symptoms, meaning sometimes they feel it might be nausea. It might be, you know, sweatiness. It might be back pain. They might think it's, you know, feel an indigestion feeling or just tired.

7:49And, you know, women, you know, tend to dismiss their symptoms. They're the caregivers. They're taking care of everybody else. And so they often will dismiss their symptoms. And then when they do present, when it does sort of, you know, they go to the doctor or to an emergency room or an outpatient visit, and they describe these atypical symptoms, sometimes, you know, even on the healthcare system side, they are, you know, that's anxiety, you're stressed out, you know, and so they sometimes there is a bit of under-recognition of heart disease. All right. Help us out because we've got about a minute left to go.

8:28And I'm just thinking there are women who are listening. There are men who are listening and thinking about their partners, their wives, their family members. What should we be asking ourselves as women in terms of, since this is the number one killer of women when it comes to health conditions, what should we be asking ourselves? What should we be doing in terms of our health and when we go to visit our doctors or get our annual checkups? Great question. Great question. Because so number one, I would say, and this is sort of an American Heart Association slogan, that you do need to know your numbers, know your risk.

9:07Some risk factors that you have, you may not feel or notice. So when you go to your doctor, you want to get your blood pressure checked because you may not you may have high blood pressure and not know it. You need to know what your cholesterol is. You want to know what your sugar is. Make sure you don't have diabetes. You, of course, want to eat a healthy diet and maintain a real healthy exercise regimen. And that should not be an intimidating kind of statement. So it doesn't mean you got to go to the gym and put on a sweatsuit. And, you know, it can be, you know, gardening, shoveling, cleaning, walking, anything that gets your heart rate up for at least 30 minutes, most, if not all days of the week.

9:52So prevention, and of course, limiting stress, trying to get good sleep. You know, I know those things are not easy to do, but you know, to the best that people are able, you know, working on those modifiable risk factors is really key. So glad we could get some time with you. Thank you so much. Be well. Dr. Joy Gelman, an associate professor of medicine, board certified cardiologist at Weill Cornell Medicine.

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