Cardiovascular disease (ischemic heart disease and ischemic stroke) is the leading cause of death for people worldwide, including among women. Nevertheless, in the minds of many people, including women themselves, heart and vascular diseases are a predominantly male problem. Let's see why women should not forget about the risk of diseases in this group.
Cardiovascular diseases in women. Less common, but more dangerous
Men do suffer from cardiovascular diseases (CVD) somewhat more often than women: the latter develop them 5-10 years later, but this is not always the case. Scientists have found that at the age of 55, under the influence of the same risk factors, the likelihood of developing heart and vascular diseases in women and men is approximately the same. In reality, it turns out that men have more of these factors: for example, they often lead an unhealthy lifestyle.
CVD can pose a greater risk for women than for men. For example, within five years of a heart attack, women are more likely to develop heart failure and have a higher risk of death. If a relatively young woman is diagnosed with acute coronary syndrome (a sharp restriction in the flow of blood to the heart), she has a much higher risk than a man of dangerous outcomes: death, heart attack, stroke, re-hospitalization.
Women often don't remember the main killer
A 2017 survey found that women were five times more likely to worry about developing breast cancer than they were about CVD. At the same time, breast cancer is the ninth leading cause of death, and coronary heart disease and stroke are the first and second, respectively.
Cardiovascular risk factors and women
- Smoking increases the risk of cardiovascular disease in women by 25% more than than men.
- Women with diabetes develop CVD 44% more often than men.
- Hypertension leads to a heart attack more often in women than in men.
- Women are less likely than men to maintain the level of physical activity recommended by medical organizations (according to American data).
- There are purely female factors that are associated with CVD risk: early start menstruation, early menopause, miscarriage.
There is every reason to believe that women are not well informed about risk factors. For example, a 2014 Canadian survey showed that less than half of them knew that the risk of CVD is increased by smoking, and less than a quarter knew about the dangers of hypertension and high cholesterol. Less than a third of the respondents were able to name the symptoms of a heart attack, and 62% of women with a high cardiovascular risk considered it insignificant.
The problem is not only in patients, but also in doctors and scientists
Until a certain time, women were not included in clinical drug trials. For example, the usefulness of aspirin for people at high cardiovascular risk has not been tested in women. The problem is still not fully resolved — in recent years, women among research participants are often not enough.
Why Women Are Often Treated Wrongly
The effect of most of the drugs created before 1988 has hardly been studied in women. When developing medicines, the characteristics of the female body are still not sufficiently taken into account. As a result, women receive treatment that is not always suitable for them.
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The study showed that when women under 55 went to the doctor with symptoms of myocardial infarction, he in 53% of cases believed that the complaint was not related to the heart. In another study, women were 59% more likely to be misdiagnosed with myocardial infarction than men. After hospitalization for a heart attack, women and men often receive different recommendations, women are treated less intensively. After treatment, women are less likely to receive recommendations for rehabilitation.
Symptoms of heart attack and stroke in women
Myocardial infarction and stroke in women more often than in men, is atypical. Therefore, doctors and their relatives should be especially attentive to the complaints of women.
Myocardial infarction
“Although men and women can have chest pain, like an elephant sitting on their chest, women can have a heart attack without it. Instead, women may experience shortness of breath, pressure in the lower chest, dizziness, severe weakness, and may faint,” says Nieca Goldberg, medical director of the Joan H. Tisch Center for Women's Health in New York.
According to the American Heart Association, the main symptoms of a heart attack in men are:
- Constricting pain in the chest. span>
- Neck, jaw or back pain
- Nausea or vomiting
- Shortness of breath
Symptoms of a heart attack in women:
- Chest pain (less common than in men).
- Pain or pressure in the lower chest or upper abdomen.
- Pain in the neck, lower jaw, or upper back.
- Nausea or vomiting.
- Shortness of breath.
- Fainting.
- Digestion disorders.
- Severe weakness, dizziness.
Illustration: MedPortal
Ischemic stroke
Symptoms of a stroke, similarly, often the same in men and women, but in women the clinical picture of the disease can be blurred.
“Women are more likely to develop atypical, vague symptoms. Their stroke can begin with fatigue, confusion, general weakness instead of weakness in one half of the body,” explained Dr. Pooja Khatri, a professor at the University of Cincinnati.
Illustration: MedPortal
The American Heart Association lists the following stroke symptoms that are common to men and women:
- < li>Facial asymmetry (corner of mouth and eyelid may be drooping).
- Weakness in one arm.
- Impaired speech and understanding of speech.
- Severe headache of unknown cause.
- Impaired vision.
- Loss of coordination, difficulty walking.
Specific symptoms in women:
- < li>General weakness, fatigue
- Confusion and memory impairment
- Nausea or vomiting ta