in Ontario,"
says Dr. Louise Sun, University of Ottawa Heart Institute, Ottawa, Ontario.
Thus
the findings of the study suggest that the rates of hospitalization as well as deaths
due to heart failure is higher in women when compared to men.
‘Further research is needed that focuses on heart disease in women such as atypical presentation, gender differences in seeking treatment, lack of recognition by doctors and response to treatment to improve overall outcome in women.’
"We
found that mortality from heart failure remains high, especially in women; that
hospital admissions for heart failure decreased in men but increased in women;
and that women and men had different associated comorbidities.," write the
authors. "Further studies should focus on sex differences in
health-seeking behaviour, medical therapy and response to therapy to improve
outcomes in women."
Heart Disease in Women - Myth Busting Facts
- Heart disease has emerged as the chief cause of death for women
globally and in the United States, accounting for about 1 in 4 deaths
among females in the US annually
- Approximately seven times more female deaths occur due to heart
disease when compared to
breast cancer.
- Women experiencing a heart attack
are more likely to misread the
symptoms and delay going to the doctor. In women,
symptoms may be atypical such as
breathlessness, shortness of breath, pain in the
neck and jaw, throat pain, upper abdominal or back pain. Warning signs
in men are more typical like crushing central chest pain
- In women, coronary artery disease (CAD)
affects smaller vessels that
feed the heart, and an angiogram, a procedure that is commonly done to
identify blocks in the coronary arteries, may miss the findings in these
smaller vessels
- In hospital, women's symptoms are likely to be overlooked
by healthcare professionals as caused by something else. They may
therefore fail to be referred for
in-hospital interventions such as angioplasty (removal of a blockage in a
heart artery) than men, resulting in a higher risk of death
- Also the mortality rates in women
with CAD tends to be higher during heart surgery due to the smaller hearts and arteries
- Women generally suffer from heart
disease and complications at a later age and therefore have traditionally received less attention than men even
by the medical fraternity and in research projects
- Pregnant women and women in
reproductive age had been excluded from taking part in research in the
United States until the 1990s which may have led to the lack of
information and awareness even among health
professionals who regard heart disease and related complications as a male
phenomenon
- Risk factors in women also have a
different bearing on heart disease in women. For example, women with diabetes have 44 percent higher
risk of heart disease than men. Additionally
gestational diabetes or
diabetes that develops during pregnancy is associated with greater risk of
heart disease than women who did not have gestational diabetes
- Following a heart related event, women are expected to start
'functioning' again earlier, which burdens and stresses them even
more and more time need
to be given to recover and recoup
In
conclusion, there should be more research projects that focus on heart disease
in women, developing treatments suited to women, creating awareness about
symptoms and signs of heart disease in women and educating women about risk
factors and their prevention in order to improve long-term outcomes.
References :- Women and Heart Disease Fact Sheet - (https://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fs_women_heart.htm)
- Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics - At-a-Glance - (http://www.heart.org/idc/groups/ahamah-public/@wcm/@sop/@smd/documents/downloadable/ucm_470704.pdf)
- Why are women at higher risk than men for heart disease? - (https://www.beaumont.org/health-wellness/blogs/why-are-women-at-higher-risk-than-men-for-heart-disease)
Source: Medindia
