I AM YOU – Ep. 54 – FAQ #2: Risk Factors

I AM YOU is hosted by Nitza I. Alvarez, MD, FACC — board-certified cardiologist, Women’s Heart Specialist, and bestselling author. Each episode shares real stories and expert insights to help women protect the heart that carries them through every stage of life — and step into their power as the CEO of their own health.

In this FAQ-style episode, Dr. Alvarez answers real questions submitted by patients and listeners, focusing on risk factors that affect women differently — and the overlooked health “chapters” that can quietly raise your cardiovascular risk.  

With clarity and urgency, she breaks down:

• Menopause & perimenopause: why this transition can dramatically increase heart risk — and why it can feel like crossing a “portal” where risk spikes  
• Pregnancy complications: how preeclampsia/eclampsia and gestational diabetes can raise long-term cardiovascular risk — and why you should stay monitored even if things “normalize” after delivery  
• Hormone replacement therapy (HRT): does it help or hurt the heart, what the “timing hypothesis” means, and why early evaluation matters
• Autoimmune disease & chronic inflammation: why inflammation acts like “fire in your arteries,” and how conditions like lupus or rheumatoid arthritis can increase cardiovascular risk  

This episode is a direct call-to-action: don’t minimize your risk factors. Track your history, get evaluated, and advocate for yourself — because becoming the CEO of your own health starts with knowing what truly raises your risk and what to do next.  

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