You could call Kathy Carder a "poster child" when it comes to heart disease. She smoked and had several other risk factors.

"I was just tired out, and it just seemed like I couldn't get stuff done the way I used to get it done,” says Carder. “So I just thought, ya know, as we age, that's just normal, and it wasn't. "

At 48 Years old, Carder almost Died. Doctors had to put a permanent stent into her 90 percent blocked artery. And that stent is permanent.
"It's just going to be a way of life for the rest of my life."

She feels lucky to have the rest of her life, because as a woman, her symptoms were not the classic "heart attack" symptoms of chest pressure and radiating chest pain.

"Fatigue, shortness of breath, not the typical weight," are some of the symptoms that women experience, says Dr. Keith Kopec, a Non-Invasive Cardiologist.

Dr. Kopec says in the last few years, the ideology has changed. He says now doctors and researchers understand that women's heart disease symptoms are often different then men's.

“I think you go back to the 80's and early 90s there still was that sense that heart disease was a man's disease. And physicians, are clearly aware otherwise."

But sometimes, blockages aren't even in the heart. That's where Interventional Cardiologist Dick Kettelkamp says people need to be aware Sometimes the warning signs.. are silent.

"P.A.D. is one of the strongest indicators of coronary artery disease. A person with P.A.D. has a 50% chance of having a blockage in their heart arteries and may not even know it, " according to Kettelkamp.

Dr. Kettlekamp specializes in treating blockages in the legs, what is called Peripheral Artery Disease. He says P.A.D. much like Heart Disease, is under-recognized in women.

According to a 2002 survey of primary care physicians, nearly all recognized that older people are more susceptible to PAD. The survey also dentified men as being susceptible to PAD. But most of the physicians excluded women as likely to have it.

Doctors say the longer you wait, the harder it is to treat. Dr. Kopec says knowing your risk factors is the best way to fight both P.A.D. And Heart Disease. So what to be aware of?

"Age, family history, cholesterol, smoking, diabetes. Those 5," says Kopec.

Kettelkamp says "Eating right, exercise, are very important aspects of care."

Carder now watches what she eats, and works out through a Cardiac rehab program at Mercy. She says she's glad she is no longer putting her health on the back burner.

“I feel so much better… and a lot of times women are so busy getting everything done that they put themselves last, and you need to put your health first," she says.

And that’s a message both Carder and doctors want to share with all women.