According to Go Red for Women, cardiovascular disease kills more women than all forms of cancer combined and yet only 44% of women recognize that cardiovascular disease is their greatest health threat. That is why we are discussing heart health.

Dr. Nanette Wenger has been at the forefront of advancing patient care for the last 60-plus years. She was among the first physicians to focus on coronary heart disease in women, and to evaluate the different risk factors, symptoms and conditions for women compared to men. She speaks about the following:

• What are the risks for and symptoms of heart problems in women?
• How do heart attacks manifest differently from men vs. women?
• How does a woman know if she has heart problems?
• How can a woman keep a healthy heart?
• What is the current state of healthcare professional awareness of how heart attacks manifest in men vs. women?
• How to advocate for yourself, especially if you feel as though you aren’t being heard?

“It is important to realize this is not a disease of old ladies. This is a disease of young women. It is a disease that can be ameliorated and prevented.” - Dr Nanette Wenger

Resources:

• American Heart Association’s Presidential Advisory
• Read the Chest Pain Guidelines
• Check out American Heart Association and Go Red for Women

• Resources and episodes on Breaking Taboos

• Resources and episodes on Pregnancy & Motherhood

• Resources and episodes on Perimenopause & Menopause and sign up for the Perimenopause and Menopause newsletter

 

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More about Dr. Nanette Wenger 

Dr. Nanette Wenger was a co-author of the American Heart Association’s 2007 Guidelines for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention in Women, and she continues to promote and conduct gender-specific cardiology research. Her work includes the connection between pregnancy complications and cardiovascular disease and the possibility that certain breast cancer treatments are linked to heart failure.

Dr. Wenger earned a Bachelor of Arts from Hunter College, summa cum laude. She was one of the first women to earn her doctorate in medicine at Harvard Medical School, and in 1956, she was the first woman to be named chief resident in cardiology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. 

Together with colleagues at Grady, she led the development of a 21-day cardiac rehabilitation program for patients after myocardial infarction (heart attack), which became a model for programs across the country.

Dr. Wenger is actively practicing at Emory University School of Medicine and is a professor emeritus and serves as the director of the Cardiac Clinics and the ECG Laboratory at Grady Memorial Hospital.

Dr. Wenger has received numerous awards for her notable achievements throughout her career. Just last month, she was featured in The Hill newspaper’s special tribute, “The Century of the Woman: 100 Women Who Have Helped Shape America.” She also chaired the World Health Organization’s Expert Committee on Rehabilitation after Cardiovascular Disease and co-chaired the Guideline Panel on Cardiac Rehabilitation for the U.S. Agency for Health Care Policy and Research. Dr. Wenger has had a longstanding interest in geriatric cardiology, is a past president of the Society of Geriatric Cardiology and was editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Geriatric Cardiology for more than 15 years.

**The information shared by Fempower Health is not medical advice but for informational purposes to enable you to have more effective conversations with your doctor.  Always talk to your doctor before making health-related decisions. Additionally, the views expressed by the Fempower Health podcast guests are their own and their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent.**

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