About the Women's Cardiovascular Medicine Program

The UC Davis Women's Cardiovascular Medicine Program offers state-of-the-art care, education and studies focused on women and heart health. Directed by Amparo C. Villablanca, professor of cardiovascular medicine, the program is staffed by a comprehensive team of physicians and nurses at UC Davis Medical Center.

The cornerstone of the program is the Women's Cardiovascular Medicine Clinic, which provides dedicated care for women who are at risk for or who have heart disease. The clinic's health care team employs a multidisciplinary approach that emphasizes prevention and attention to the heart-health issues that are unique to women.

Services offered

Because heart disease can be related to hereditary, lifestyle and environmental factors, the clinic offers a wide range of preventive, diagnostic, risk assessment, treatment, educational and referral services, including:

  • Specialty clinical care in cardiovascular medicine
  • Nutrition and dietary counseling
  • Risk factor analysis and intervention, including diagnosis and treatment of cholesterol disorders and high blood pressure
  • Education on smoking cessation, exercise and stress reduction
  • Opportunities to participate in UC Davis research related to women's cardiovascular health
  • Cardiac rehabilitation
  • Referrals for cardiac subspecialty care
Heart conditions in women

Women can experience a variety of cardiac conditions, including:

  • Coronary artery disease such as atherosclerosis
  • Myocardial infarction (heart attack)
  • Angina (cardiac chest pain)
  • Mitral valve prolapse and other abnormalities of the heart valves
  • Arrhythmias (problems with heart beat rhythm)
  • Congenital heart disease (heart disease that a woman is born with)
  • Hypertension (high blood pressure)
  • Stroke ("brain attack")
  • Heart disease during or following pregnancy
  • Congestive heart failure
  • Chest pain associated with panic or anxiety disorders or depression
  • Hypertension or hyperlipidemia (high "bad" cholesterol or low "good" cholesterol)
  • Spasm of the heart arteries (Prinzmetal's angina) and micro-vascular angina

All of these conditions are treatable and, with proper medical management, can be controlled or prevented altogether.