The heart is one of the most important organs in your body. How to care for it now to prevent trouble later
Sophie Blackall
In Your 50s
Prevention
Get moving.
"Women who enter their 50s have usually become progressively less active and have gained weight," says C. Noel Bairey Merz, M.D., medical director of the preventative and rehabilitative cardiac center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, in Los Angeles. Your risk may be higher, since menopause depletes levels of heart-protective estrogen, making blood vessels less flexible (exercise helps counteract this).
Monitor your risk factors.
Blood pressure and triglyceride levels may edge up, especially if you have put on weight or are taking an oral estrogen replacement.
Know the signs of heart attack.
In addition to the typical male symptoms (pain or pressure in the center of the chest radiating to the neck and arms), women may feel severe indigestion, lower-chest and upper-abdominal pain, unexplained shortness of breath, sweating, nausea, upper-back pain, shoulder pain, or severe fatigue. If you experience any of these, head to an ER.
Tests Everything as in your 40s:
Blood pressure:
Annually.
Body-mass index (BMI), waist circumference, and/or waist-to-hip ratio measurement:
Annually.
Lipid panel:
By age 20; repeat annually or more often if your lipids are in an unhealthy range, or every five years if they're in a healthy range.
Fasting blood glucose:
Only if you're diabetic, pregnant, or at risk for diabetes (this includes anyone with a BMI of 25 or higher; those with a family history of diabetes; and African-Americans, Native Americans, and Hispanics).
Electrocardiogram:
In your early 40s if your risk is high.
Stress test:
In your early 40s if your risk is high.
Fasting blood glucose:
Every three years starting at age 45 if there are no risk factors, or more often if you are overweight or have other risk factors.
Plus:
High-sensitivity C-reactive protein, homocysteine, and/or lipoprotein:
As indicated by your doctor, based on your risk factors.
CT test for coronary calcification:
As indicated by your doctor, based on your risk factors.
For a list of tests, what they measure, and how to interpret results, see Testing, Testing
