welcome to "beyond the headlines," i'm cheryl jennings. today we're going to talk about heart disease. cardiovascular disease was the number one killer of women causing more deaths than all

cancers combined. karina rusk filed this report last year about heart disease awareness month. >> reporter: she is an award winning journalist. she was on vacation when she felt pressure on her chest and she ignored it until she got home and hit her again. >> i went to the hospital and i had two major arteries oh concluded. >> when it comes to heart disease in women the numbers are staggering. one in three american women will decide of heart disease. that compares one in 30 that will die from breast cancer. >> the american heart association is trying to gethe e the message national wear red day. sandra is another heart disease survivor. >> we want women to be aware of the risk factors. know your blood pressure

numbers. >> genetics and family history women can't control but other contributors to heart disease include smoking, high cholesterol, blood pressure. inactivity, excess weight and diabetes. doctors warn the signs of heart trouble in women are much more subtle than for men. >> they can have neck pain or jaw pain. they can have just pain on this side. >> for sandra it was the key. for jeanie it felt like a weight on her chest. after emergency surgery the reporter is on several medications and taking the necessary precautions. >> the said you would have been dead if you didn't come into the hospital. >> cheryl: what a story. joining me is the studio right now is an interventional

cardiologist dr. arun rag had youpathy. doctor, thank you for being here today. take advantage of your expertise and explain what heart disease is? >> heart disease the number one killer in the united it affects men and women and millions of patients every year. cardiologists usually think of heart disease as arteriosclerosis and these are normal arteries but as we gowe o different risk factors, such as high blood pressure, cigarette smoke, high cholesterol. in patients who are exposed to these risks over the course of their lives, they can develop progression of plaque. >> cheryl: is that what is

building up? >> yes. over the course of years, possibly decades before symptoms start, plaque can progress and rapidly progress and cause serious consequences of heart disease. >> cheryl: i'm looking at that picture. it's on the inside of the arteries but it's not. >> plaque starts in the wall of the blood vessel and grows over time. a lot of that growth is asymptomatic and you don't feel it. a heart attack can happen when a plaque breaks or ruptures and it signals a heart attack. >> cheryl: what are the symptoms? >> in men, and in women, the typical symptom is pain or pressure in the center of the chest. sometimes moving down into the arm or the neck or the jaw or the back. most people would describe it as a sudden, intense feeling. something they never felt before.

in women what we're seeing more and more of is the report symptoms are different. it might be shortness of breath or fatigue or heaviness ornause. >> cheryl: those are symptoms some people get everyday. so when should you do something about this? >> most people will know the symptom is different than anything they felt before. it can happen suddenly and in an intense manner. any time you have these symptoms call 911 and get help because once a heart attack starts, time is of the essence. >> cheryl: people are reluctant to do that but they shouldn't a? mess around? >> that's right. we can confirm the diagnosis. >> cheryl: so what are we looking at here? >> this is actually an

angiogram. a catheter is placed into the heart blood vessel. this was taken from a patient that was suffering from a heart attack. what you are seeing the after results after an artery was completely blocked, catheter was place in order a body, a wire is placed down the blood vessel and blood pressure was restored. >> cheryl: we have to take a break. we'll be backore what you can do to prevent [ mom ] hey gu. guys... [ female announcer ] pillsbury cinnamon rolls with cinnabon cinnamon are an irresistible sunday morning idea. nothing calls them to the table faster. sunday morning ideas made easy. and these are the ones you'll love on a school ght. pillsbury ham and cheese crescents. with just a few ingredients, you have an easy dinner. pillsbury ham and cheese crescents. school night ideas made easy.

>> cheryl: with welcome back. we're talking about heart disease. a government panel recommended children ho be re tested for cholesterol. some common cholesterol treatments may not be appropriate for young children. >> reporter: heart disease runs on both sides of the family. so she is getting her cholesterol check. it may seem unusual because she is young but cholesterol in children could soon become routine. >> they are recommending children around nine, ten years of age be checked for cholesterol and later on, around 17 years of age. >> the panel was funded by the national innings institute of health. experts show studies triggers for adult heart disease obesity actually begin in childhood. goal is to accurately identify children at high risk. >> we have evidence that your

child is at risk for heart disease, you want to report physical healthy activity and diet. >> barely 1% of children those with genetically high cholesterol would qualify for cholesterol lowering medications. he believes the cost-effectiveness of testing is yet to be proven. >> we have to be cautious. we're going to see a lot of blood tests and itremains to be seen how many kids will be helped at this point. >> he needs to make lifestyle ch glad she is being told early. >> cheryl: they also recommend blood pressure measurements starting at age 3 along with family history as it relates to obesity.

now back to the studio with the dr. rughapathy. let me start with the most important question, how do we prevent heart disease? >> prevention with patients recognizing what risk factors they have for heart disease. every one of the patients need to know what is the blood pressure and is it under control. what is the cholesterol and is it under control. knowing your in sums very important. >> cheryl: is there an average number? >> we usual recommend a blood pressure less than 130 and a cholesterol total less than 200. there are different types of cholesterol so it's important to talk to your doctor about which numbers are important to see. it shows for most patients, ldl cholesterol or bad cholesterol under 130 is a goal. if you have heart disease at risk, higher risk for heart attack, you should have less

than 100. >> cheryl: so if you have heart disease detected. >> heart scans are detail test that cardiologist can order. if a patient you are concerned about for having a heart attack. what it is displayed on the screen there, one type of heart scan can look very closely at how much arteriosclerosis many years before they had a heart attack. so we can treat them more aggressively and follow up with them. this is a heart scan that was obtained into patient that was a 50-year-old woman that had no other risk factors but her father had died suddenly at age 55. it showed a critical problem in a very important blood vessel. >> cheryl: let's talk about

stents? >> stents is what i do in my practice. a stent is a medical device that is a hollow tube about two to four millimeters in diameter we can place in the coronary artery to repair damaged vessels. >> cheryl: there is not a lot of down time for that? >> most people have stents can leave the hospital the next day providing everything goes well. >> cheryl: how about statens? >> that is one of the most important medicines for people that have high cholesterol and at risk. they work by lowering the cholesterol but also decreasing the amount of inflammation or injury that can happen in patients with arteriosclerosis. >> cheryl: are their side effects? >> there can be. it's important to talk to your doctor. >> cheryl: what classes of patients ask when they go to doctor? >> they need to ask their doctor

to assess them for heart disease based on the risk factors, know the numbers so they can get the appropriate treatment. >> cheryl: is there a website we can go to for more information? >> it's cammf.com and american heart association at heart.org. >> and people that should be worried, what can they do? >> talk to your doctor and consider getting appropriate screening tests so i can diagnosis arteriosclerosis. >> cheryl: in the meantime? >> eat less and live more. >> cheryl: all right. thank you so much. we do have to take a quick break. when we come back, meet a woman who recognized her own symptoms of heart disease and learn what she isssssssssssssssssssssssssss

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>> cheryl: welcome back.

women have additional signs sign men. centers for disease control and prevention is calling for increased awareness. medical expert in july. >> the study suggests that many women are dying from heart attacks because they are looking for symptoms far more common in men, such as chest pain. >> it's a sense of fullness and pressure in the chest. that is different. half of the women that have heart disease don't have chest pain at all. they could have persistent nausea. >> men could die in the first year and far less likely to seek emergency care immediately. >> when a woman has a heart attack she gets to the hospital 22 minutes later than a man. if you have signs that are related to your heart, don't

ignore them. don't call anyone for consult. dial 911. >> reporter: there are things a woman can do right now. kick smoking and exercise 30 minutes at least a few times a week. keep your weight down and eat plenty of vegetables and fruits. another study says stem cells show great promise in treating heart muscles. >> people that received this treatment had improvement in terms of having fewer episodes of chest pain. they w able to do more exercise. >> cheryl: in the studio i sue sue chou. she discovered she had heart disease. i looked at you and fantastic. you are an athlete. how did you discover you had heart disease? >> i was fortunate enough to be

jogging with a friend that i knew very well. i complained i had little bit of tightness in my chest. nothing that serious. we had run the same route for almost 20 years. i don't usually complain about physical things. i kept mentioning the tightness in my chest. going up some of the hills i couldn't breathe as well as i had been previously. poor heart history in my family. after a couple of months of complaining they gave me an ultimatum and they said i should get my heart checked. i failed one of tests and i was put into the hospital within a day. >> cheryl: how bad was it?

>> one artery was 99% blocked. in the end i had a total of five stents in my heart. >> cheryl: how are you doing now? >> i feel great. i'm running and exercising. eating well. trying to do all the things. >> cheryl: before this you didn't think much about it despite of your history because you kept your weight down and eating organic and all the things you were supposed to do and yet you were a victim of this. so when the doctor did your history he looked at both sides? >> yes. i was previous years. this was part of my history. i had been having periodic checkups. >> cheryl: you like to exercise. is your family a part of that, too? >> yes.

this past summer my daughter and i and running friend and her daughter. we ran san francisco half marathon. and i had on my heart monitor, my cellphone, my jewelry. my medical alert jewelry. i was ready. >> cheryl: so how has your life changed since all of this? >> i think that i try harder to celebrate with good health as part -- just to stay healthy. >> cheryl: you have a big event coming up? >> it's on february 14th at union square. >> cheryl: you're going to be on stage? >> yes, i am going to try to be on my stage with my daughter.

there will be other famous people. willierown brown and a number of people. >> cheryl: you survived the heart attack and i hope you survive the high heel. >> thank you so much. we do have to take another break. one community is especially at risk for heart disease so, this is delicious okay... is this where we're at now, we just eat whatever tastes good?

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>> cheryl: welcome back. we have been talking about the dangers of heart disease and what we can do about it. here with me in the studio, executive director of the heart center in el camino hospital in mountain view, ashish mahur. so south asians have a higher risk for heart disease? >> they have higher risk and

diabetes, as well. >> cheryl: from where? >> countries from india, pakistan, sri lanka and nepal. 60% of them are improving but 17% of the world's population. but half the disease of diabetes is by indians zbloock why? >> the first one of course this includes diabetes. having the long ratio of cholesterol, en not enough good

cholesterol compared to bad cholesterol and hypertension. >> cheryl: and lifestyle factors, too? >> they don't exercise as much. they are eating the wrong foods. they are vegetarian but they are green based. then the other side is other issues. >> cheryl: lifestyle indicators is most important? >> but certain things don't work. it's kind of how you look at it. >> cheryl: what do you do at the south asian heart center? >> so we screen ea individuals early starting at the age of 18.

we look at the good cholesterol which is surprisingly low in this population and we look at raising that. we look at information which also that is important to to in a lot of tests and also the glucose. >> cheryl: so how important is family history? >> we look two issues. one is heart disease in parents or siblings before the age of 55 and we look at diabetes, as well. and both of them are important. >> so we're moving from the risk factors, traditional risks to see whether you have the disease or not.

we have a c.t. scan at the center so people can know and due better. know they need to work on it. >> cheryl: and you have something coming up? >> we have event for women especially. we're going to have a free screening for advanced risk factors. we want to have every women who signs up and register for this, sign upband, as well. so we're together on this as a family. >> cheryl: thank you so much. i hope everybody participates in this. we have all the information about your program on our website. and we are out of time. a big special thanks for all of our guests joining us today. that is it for this edition of "beyond the headlines." the the information on our website at abc7news.com.

find us at facebook and follow news on twitter. thanks so much for joining us. i'm cheryl jennings. we'll see you next time. itit