Health

Women are prone to heart attack

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Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death globally, women are more likely than men to die of a heart attack. During a heart attack, women are more likely to present without pain, or with uncharacteristic symptoms. Sexism in cardiovascular research means that not only are heart attacks often missed in women, but women are also less likely to receive recommended therapies, interventions and rehabilitation opportunities.

One of the most common cardiovascular conditions is ischemic heart disease, which can lead to heart attacks. Heart attacks occur when blood vessels serving the heart are blocked, causing heart muscle to die. In most cases the blockage is due to atherosclerosis: the build-up of fatty plaques in the coronary arteries. However, more than 50 per cent of women with ischemic heart disease don’t have blocked coronary arteries.

The Women’s Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation (WISE) study found ischemic heart disease in women often occurs when smaller blood vessels of the heart known as the ‘microcirculation’ become damaged, causing them to close. Despite advances which have decreased heart attack mortality, women have higher rates of death compared to men.

Most heart attacks aren’t sudden, painful events that cause victims to collapse to the ground. Pain may be gradual and mistaken for indigestion or a muscle ache. Although chest pain is the most common symptom for both sexes, women are more likely to present without pain or have uncharacteristic symptoms including fatigue or discomfort in the neck, jaw and back.

The failure to quickly recognize atypical symptoms can delay treatment and cause more heart damage. A long-standing concern is that women delay seeking medical care and suffer greater damage by not acting quickly. A review of research from 1960 to 2008 cites 11 studies which found women took longer to seek care and seven which found no sex differences.

Studies find that women who have heart attacks take longer than men to obtain medical care, these differences are relatively small. The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada found that women were less likely than men to receive an electrocardiogram-a test to detect heart attacks within the recommended 10 minutes after arriving in the emergency department.

Source :The Conversation