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MISSION, Kan., May 5, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- (Family Features) Most people think of heart attacks as debilitating pain in the chest. However, that's not always the case, especially for women, and missing the signs can be a matter of life and death. Although heart disease is the leading cause of death among American women, according to the American Heart Association, symptoms are often overlooked or explained away as less worrisome conditions. Continue Reading Photo courtesy of Shutterstock "Men and women experience many aspects of life differently, and heart disease is no exception," said LeAnne Bloedon, MS, RD, vice president of clinical development, Esperion Therapeutics. "Symptoms of a heart attack aren't as obvious as many women think, and failing to recognize the danger and get help can have catastrophic results." One heart disease risk factor, for example, is high LDL cholesterol. Often referred to as a "silent killer," it doesn't always present noticeable symptoms. In fact, data suggests women with high LDL cholesterol are not diagnosed or treated as early or aggressively as men, which can put women at an increased risk for cardiovascular events. Understanding how men's and women's risk and symptoms differ may help identify and treat a serious heart health problem before it causes lasting damage. Anatomy Differences Some differences between men and women are present in the body's internal systems, including the cardiovascular system. Women generally have smaller hearts and narrower blood vessels. This can affect heart health in numerous ways, including less efficient stress responses and greater risk of widespread plaque buildup, especially in smaller vessels, called microvasculature, which can pose treatment challenges. Cholesterol Buildup Hormones influence aspects of the body's function, including cholesterol levels. Estrogen, a female sex hormone, raises HDL (good) cholesterol levels. This may be why women tend to have more HDL cholesterol and lower LDL (bad) cholesterol than men, especially before they reach menopause, though inherited high cholesterol can affect women of all ages. "It's critical to raise awareness about the importance of measuring LDL cholesterol, diagnosing high cholesterol and treating elevated LDL cholesterol per guidelines and individual patient needs," Bloedon said. Risk Factors While there are shared risk factors for heart disease among men and women (such as obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes), some risk factors disproportionately affect women. For example, uncontrolled cholesterol in women, particularly after menopause, can increase the risk of heart disease and stroke. Care and Treatment "While you may not be able to fully prevent heart disease, you can understand the risks and take proactive steps," Bloedon said. "Commit to a healthy, smoke-free lifestyle. Exercise regularly and eat a well-balanced diet with limits on processed foods, sugar, sodium and alcohol. Take any medications as directed by your health care provider." Statins, which reduce the production of cholesterol in the liver and lower cholesterol levels in the bloodstream, are the medications most often prescribed to help manage high LDL cholesterol. While generally well-tolerated, statin intolerance (the inability to take a statin at any dose or the recommended dose) does occur in some patients and is more common in women. Talk with your doctor about other steps you can take to manage elevated LDL cholesterol levels and learn more about women's heart health at goredforwomen.org. Symptoms of Heart Attacks in Women Women's experiences with heart disease may be quite different from men. For example, according to the Heart Disease Foundation, women are likely to be older when they experience a heart attack. They may also attribute symptoms to other conditions, such as diabetes or arthritis. Further complicating matters, several diseases mimic heart attacks so getting to the root of the problem can be tricky. Women are more apt than men to experience a coronary spasm, coronary dissection or broken heart syndrome. What to Watch For: Like men, women experiencing a heart attack may notice prolonged or reoccurring chest pain or pressure. In women, that pain may extend to the arms, back, neck, jaw and stomach. Some women experience shortness of breath with no chest pain at all. Other symptoms women are more likely to report can be easily mistaken for other conditions. Some of these signs include unexplained fatigue, disruptions to normal sleep patterns, lightheadedness, nausea and cold sweats. Michael French [email protected] 1-888-824-3337 editors.familyfeatures.com About Family Features Editorial Syndicate A leading source for high-quality food, lifestyle and home and garden content, Family Features provides readers with topically and seasonally relevant tips, takeaways, information, recipes, videos, infographics and more. Find additional articles and information at Culinary.net and eLivingToday.com. SOURCE Family Features Editorial Syndicate WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM? 440k+ Newsrooms & Influencers 9k+ Digital Media Outlets 270k+ Journalists Opted In GET STARTED

iStock, Ahmad Darmansyah The FDA accepted Novo Nordisk’s NDA for an oral formulation of Wegovy. The agency is expected to release its verdict on the drug in the fourth quarter of this year. The FDA on Friday accepted Novo Nordisk ’s New Drug Application for an oral formulation of its widely popular obesity drug Wegovy for chronic weight management, bringing the Danish drugmaker one step closer to winning the first regulatory approval for a GLP-1 pill specifically for weight-loss. Novo did not provide a specific target action date for oral Wegovy, only announcing in its news release that the FDA’s verdict is expected in the fourth quarter. If approved, Wegovy’s pill form will carry a 25-mg dose of the drug, scheduled for once-daily dosing in adults who are overweight or obese and who have at least one comorbid condition. Supporting Wegovy’s oral bid are results from the Phase III OASIS 4 study. A November 2024 readout showed that daily oral Wegovy could match the weekly injectable in lowering bodyweight, Healio reported at the time. Novo did not provide additional data comparing oral versus injectable Wegovy in its Friday release. OASIS 4 also found that oral Wegovy significantly outperformed placebo, cutting an average of 13.6% of participants’ weight, as opposed to 2.4% in the control group. The oral drug also had a safety pro with its injectable formulation. Wegovy can cause adverse effects like nausea, diarrhea, constipation and abdominal pain. Last month, a Novo spokesperson confirmed to BioSpace that the pharma had filed for approval for oral Wegovy. The spokesperson also clarified that Novo already has an oral GLP-1 on the market. Rybelsus, an early brand of semaglutide, was given the FDA’s go-ahead in September 2019 for oral dosing. But instead of being indicated for chronic weight management, Rybelsus is approved to treat type 2 diabetes. Novo is locked in a close race with Eli Lilly to bring the first weight-loss pill to the market. Last month, Lilly announced that orforglipron, an orally available GLP-1 treatment, significantly lowered blood glucose levels in patients with type 2 diabetes. Analysts at the time were bullish about these findings, with BMO Capital Markets noting that orforglipron achieved “injectable like efficacy.” Study participants also lost 7.9% body weight after orforglipron treatment, as compared with 1.6% in placebo. A few days after the late-stage win, Lilly CEO David Ricks told Fox Business that while the study was primarily in diabetes, the pharma’s first drug application for orforglipron will be for chronic weight management later this year. Lilly will subsequently approval for type 2 diabetes in 2026. The company also promised to manufacture the drug in the U.S.

Welcome back to Endpoints Weekly, our roundup of the top headlines in biopharma. Earnings season continued this week, with more comments from pharma executives on the potential impact of tariffs, new details around Pfizer and Moderna’s cost-efficiency efforts, and more. Read below for a recap of the top news out of this week’s earnings calls. We’ve also got a summary of data out of the American Association for Cancer Research’s annual meeting, where Lei Lei Wu reported from Chicago. And Endpoints News’ Andrew Dunn welcomed Arc Institute co-founder Patrick Hsu to our special Slack channel to discuss all things AI. Stay tuned next week as more companies, including BioNTech, Novo Nordisk, Takeda and more, report their earnings.  — Nicole DeFeudis 💲 More pharma companies reported their Q1 earnings this week, including AstraZeneca, Novartis, Pfizer, GSK, Eli Lilly, Moderna and Amgen. Tariffs were a central theme during earnings calls, as drugmakers provided some detail on the potential impact to their business. “Our goal, as I mentioned, is to have 100% of our products produced in the US for the US,” Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan said during a first-quarter earnings call with the media Tuesday. AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot said the company “can actually move the manufacturing of products that are made in Europe, move it to the US for supply to the US. And we can also potentially do the other way around.” Here’s what else our reporters tracked: The privately-held biotech Stealth BioTherapeutics said its rare disease drug was delayed this week. A person familiar with the situation said the company hadn’t been asked to run more trials or provide more data, that the FDA hadn’t identified any safety concerns, and that the agency hadn’t raised manufacturing issues, Endpoints’ Max Gelman reported. The apparent delay comes amid upheaval at health agencies, though several companies have said in earnings calls and interviews in recent weeks that they aren’t seeing an impact on their interactions with the FDA so far. The agency made decisions on time for two other drugs this week: Johnson & Johnson’s rare disease drug Imaavy and Satsuma Pharmaceuticals’ migraine drug Atzumi. The agency also hit PDUFA dates for other big-name medicines in recent weeks, like Dupixent, Amvuttra, Uplizna and Eylea. Stealth’s drug had an original decision deadline in January, but the company said the FDA requested more time to review supplemental material. Max examines lingering questions around the situation here . AACR recap: Data from GSK, Merck and more 🔬Scientists descended on Chicago this week for the American Association for Cancer Research’s annual meeting. Some in attendance, including cancer scientists, former NIH leaders and patient advocates, spoke about how cuts to science funding could impact cancer research. “It is a time to be clear-eyed about what is happening and to decide what role each of us is willing to play,” Yale oncologist Patricia LoRusso said during a panel. Read more here . Elsewhere, GSK presented data showing that its PD-1 inhibitor Jemperli induced a 100% complete response rate in 49 patients with a specific type of rectal cancer after six months. Even though the results were excellent, Endpoints’ Elizabeth Cairns reported that they are unlikely to have major commercial implications. Jemperli is already approved in this cancer type, known as mismatch repair deficient (MMRd) solid tumors, though only after the patient has progressed on prior treatment and has no further options. The new data could move the product into the neoadjuvant setting for dMMR cancers, but it’s still a tiny patient population. Only around 3% of solid tumors carry the dMMR biomarker. Merck also impressed with Keytruda data in head and neck cancer, showing that adding Keytruda before and after surgery cut the risk of disease recurrence or death by 27%. Patients in the study remained disease-free for more than four years at the median. 🌎 The US’ drug infrastructure has historically been robust, making it an attractive country in which to run clinical trials. But some companies say uncertainty is driving them to look elsewhere for their studies. Jared Whitlock examined this phenomenon in a story this week . Of note, companies find FDA Commissioner Marty Makary’s comments on rare disease approval pathways and animal testing largely promising. “Since we are in the ultra-rare disease space, Makary’s words on creating paths for rare [diseases] creates hope, and we are looking forward to learning more about his plans,” Mahzi Therapeutics CEO Yael Weiss said. While overseas trials have limitations, agencies in Europe, Canada, Australia and the UK have worked in recent years to harmonize guidelines with the FDA. 🎤 Endpoints’ Andrew Dunn welcomed Patrick Hsu to the newsroom’s Slack channel earlier this month to share his thoughts from the frontlines of the AI bio space. Hsu co-founded the Arc Institute in 2021, a Palo Alto, CA-based nonprofit research organization that has spearheaded some leading AI biology research. “I think AI will become a universal copilot that we use for everything,” he said during the interview. Read more here . DON’T MISS: