Looking after your heart health is easier – and harder – than just buying supplements.

1. Know your numbers: blood sugar, cholesterol,  blood pressure

2. Stay physically active

3. Quit smoking

4. Maintain a healthy weight

5. Reduce alcohol intake to minimal or low-risk levels.

Some of the most common urban myths are around menopause and heart disease, or women and statins. Why does this matter? Misinformation has the potential to be harmful here because up to 4000 women a year in Ireland die from heart disease.

When it comes to HRT, it does seem that it may have a role in protecting against heart disease, but the relationship is complex. For example, it’s important to remember that HRT won’t replace those other important steps in looking after your heart health! Misunderstandings about statins and cholesterol have real consequences: in one study, 20% of women who were high-risk for cardiovascular disease declined to take prescribed statins from their docs. Women were also less likely to be offered a prescription.

Did you know? Some of the confusion when it comes to evidence-based medicine and women occurs when studies include mostly men. In general, women should be 50% of a trial for a disease/drug, but in some diseases, it is only 22% – 35%! The reasons for this are complex, including that ethics committees traditionally were more restrictive regarding approving studies that planned to include women of potential child-bearing age.