Myths about heart disease among urban women revealed

 Dr. Jagdish Hiremath – Cardiologist, Pune.

• Setting the Context
• Survey Methodology.
• Demographic profile of the sample.
• Health consciousness among urban women in India. 
• Proactively taking regular health check up.
• Frequency of getting an Cholesterol test done.
• Frequency of getting an ECG test done. 
• Awareness about Heart Care & Diseases.
• Awareness of stress test for detection of Coronary Artery Disease.
• Knowledge on either Heart attack or Coronary artery disease.
• Awareness on symptoms on heart disease.
• Awareness of various treatments for heart disease.
• Awareness of Interventional methods due to heart disease incidences in the family.
• Awareness of key cause of Heart ailments.
• Awareness on susceptibility to heart disease as compared to other disease.
• General Awareness on Heart incidences at a
•  global level , in year 2010.
• Health Information Source.
• Need for knowledge on proactive heart care
• Conclusions.

Conclusions

A) Low pro-activeness on heart care.
 B) Myths about Heart diseases.
 C) Need for easier access to Heart health education. 

A ) Low level of pro-activeness on heart care

• Fewer women in the younger age group take initiatives   for proactive exercise routine.
  
• Health check ups are taken by women only whenever 
   there is a health problem.
  

B ) Myths about Heart diseases

• Though basic level of awareness about heart disease mong urban Indian
   women is satisfactory there are certain myths about heart disease among
   women.

The study has brought to light some myths about heart disease among Indian women.

Myth:

• Women are least prone to heart diseases as compared to other diseases
   like breast cancer, osteoporosis and diabetes.
  

The Reality:

• Women are more prone to heart disease than cancer osteoporosis. In
   fact, more women the world over succumb to heart disease than any
   other disease.

Myth:

• High stress working environment is the key cause for heart ailments. 

The Reality:

• Post menopause, women become highly prone to heart ailments owing to
   the absence of the protective female  hormone progesterone. 

Myth:

• Younger women feel secure about their health consciousness and their
  health awareness levels.
  

The Reality:

• The fact is initiative to take proactive measure for heart care is low
   among younger women than the women in the higher age group.
  

C ) Need for easier access to Heart health education

• There is rising need for knowledge dissemination about pro-active heart care to keep up with the increasing need for higher awareness and  know-how on proactive heart care.
  
• Easier availability of information will help women understand the magnitude of the heart disease problem.
  

Comparative conclusions with Mumbai

Health consciousness related:

• Higher percentages of women follow a regular exercise routine in Pune as
  compared to Mumbai.

Awareness on Heart disease:

• Awareness about Coronary artery disease is more appreciable in Mumbai
  
• Awareness about key ailments of heart diseases is slightly better among women in Pune as compared to Mumbai. This is due to higher mentions of ( compared to Mumbai ) 'women with diabetes' and 'menopause' as causes of heart ailments.
  

General - Health information related:

• Spread of information through the word-of-mouth medium is higher in Pune.

The 'My Fit Heart 'Initiative<:

The 'My Fit Heart' program, has initiated some measures to spread awareness about heart diseases among women in India through various methods like Life Style management workshops at corporates, cardiologist talk sessions in various organizations & clubs like the Rotary clubs, research studies, similar to this women & heart care survey, health camps in large residential complexes and information dissemination through education literature and publications.