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Christine Jeffries

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Why Do Women Need To Trust Their Cardiologist?

By EmpowHER October 19, 2010 - 9:36am
 
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Dr. DelGiorno shares why women need to have a good, open relationship with their physicians. Dr. DelGiorno completed his Fellowship in General Cardiology and Residency in Internal Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine and now works at Banner Heart Hospital in Mesa, Arizona.

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Dr. DelGiorno:

It’s very important for women to have a very good communication and an open relationship with their doctors. It’s important that they present symptoms that they may not think are very important to their doctors. Symptoms for women’s heart disease are very different sometimes than men. They generally do not present with the same symptoms. Men generally present with chest pain or exertion-related symptoms.

Women sometimes present with chest pain but not as much. Women present with other things that make the diagnosis a little bit more puzzling; jaw pain, headaches, throat pain, shortness of breath, dizziness, fatigue – all these things are very important when evaluating women and it’s important that women remember this.

So don’t be bashful, don’t be shy, don’t be stupid when you are coming to your doctor. Talk to your doctor. Tell him your symptoms because these are very important for us to try to make the diagnosis of heart disease.

I think it’s important that women are very open when they talk to their doctors. I think it’s important that they present all of their symptoms when they talk to their doctors. Most of these symptoms, if not all of these symptoms, can somehow be categorized and associated with different types of heart disease so these symptoms are very, very important for us to know.

About Dr. James DelGiorno, M.D.:
Dr. James J. DelGiorno is Board Certified in Cardiovascular Medicine and Internal Medicine. He completed his Fellowship in General Cardiology and Residency in Internal Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine after earning his Doctorate of Medicine from Pennsylvania State University.

Keywords:
Conditions: Heart Disease, Cardiovascular Disease, High Cholesterol, Coronary Artery Disease, High Blood Pressure

Related Terms: Pulmonary Embolism, HDL, LDL, Triglycerides, Chest Tightness, Shortness of Breath, Jaw Pain, Throat Pain, Stress Testing, Nuclear Stress Testing, Stress Echo, Cardiac Catheterization, Fatigue, Thromboembolism, Exercise Intolerance

Expert: Dr. Jim DelGiorno, James DelGiorno, M.D., Doctor James DelGiorno, Heart Expert Dr. Jim DelGiorno, Women's Heart Health Specialist Jim DelGiorno, M.D., Cardiovascular Medicine and Internal Medicine

Expertise: Peripheral Artery Disease, Heart Disease Risks, Heart Disease Management, Cardiac Metabolic Syndrome, Heart Disease Prevention, Blood Pressure Testing, Cholesterol Testing, Robotic Catheter Ablation, Coronary Artery Disease, Arrhythmia

 
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