Women have historically
been treated differently than men when it comes to heart because their risk has
been considered to be lower. However, in the mid-nineties, The National
Institutes of Health mandated that women be included in all clinical studies
including those involving heart disease. Since that time, studies have shown
that women are also at risk and more women die every year in the United States
from heart disease than men.
A recent study in the
journal Circulation revealed startling findings on how preconceptions of female heart
disease affect women’s treatment. Doctors are “much less likely” to identify
women who are at high-risk than men of who share the same risk profiles. As a
result, women are not getting the preventative care they need to battle their
disease. Women are also less likely to be referred for helpful procedures such
as balloon angioplasty, stents and imaging tests.
Heart disease can present
itself in many different ways. Women, more often than men, experience something
other than the classic squeezing and crushing chest pain normally associated
with a heart attack. Women’s symptoms are often fatigue, nausea, back pain, and
dizziness which they confuse for heartburn or acid reflux. In the United
States, sixty-four percent of women who die of heart disease have had previous
symptoms.
It is important to know the risk factors for heart disease
and work to reduce the ones you have control over. Obesity, high cholesterol,
hypertension, tobacco use, diabetes, family history, and age can all contribute
to your heart health. However, certain factors pose a higher risk for women.
Diabetes, for instance, raises heart disease risk twice as much for woman than
as it does for men. Tobacco also poses a great danger to women. Data has
shown that a woman smoking a similar amount as a man is more likely to develop
heart disease.
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