Cardiovascular health is the leading cause of death among women, yet these symptoms are often overlooked and under researched. Many symptoms and warning signs can go unrecognized because of the lack of educational initiatives and advocacy. After our initial conversation in 2025, we recognized that the discussion surrounding women and heart health has just begun, so today, we invited Anne Albers, MD, Cardiovascular Disease, to further explore new questions and emerging research within the women’s heart health space.
When envisioning about a heart attack, many people think about the “Hollywood heart attack” that is typically portrayed in movies. Dr. Albers said that while these types of heart attacks do happen, it’s also very common for people to have intense fatigue, sweats, dizziness, chest pressure, nausea and indigestion when presenting with a heart attack.
“My worst worry is that someone will ignore their indigestion, and it’s their heart and they’re having a heart attack,” Dr Albers said [02:37-02:45]. She explains that many women brush off symptoms such as being fatigued because they think it’s a normal daily experience, but this could be a symptom of having a heart attack.
There are specific risk factors for heart disease such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure and family history that Dr. Albers emphasizes women focus on tracking throughout their life.
“I really want you to ask, ‘what’s my numbers?’. Know your numbers,” Dr. Albers said [05:35-05:38]. Know your numbers for blood pressure—we call blood pressure the silent killer because it might be higher as you go through life, if you have stress or for different reasons, blood pressure can go up, and you might not feel it, so that’s definitely a number you have to measure” [05:39-05:56].
Dr. Albers shares the three critical areas to improve on in women’s heart health, despite recent progress: making sure women are aware that cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death among women, informing the medical community about the less publicized symptoms of a heart attack, so they can identify an emergency and making sure women can take care of themselves within their household.
Dr. Albers said that we need more scientific research to fully understand the benefits of treatment plans. She adds that we don’t have enough research to know enough about women’s health and treatment.
“I would hope that women can work with their provider, and try and understand what we do know, and I’m hopeful that we will get a plan to be able to do the research that will give us evidence to know the best way to treat women,” Dr. Albers said [19:58-20:17].
When working with your provider, she emphasizes the importance of narrowing down your symptoms and coming in prepared with the details, so you can fully advocate for your health.
To listen to the full episode, click here.
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