Heart Disease Neglected in Women
Despite killing at least as many women as men, coronary heart disease continues to be overlooked in women, a review has found.
Despite killing at least as many women as men, coronary heart disease continues to be overlooked in women, a review has found.
Additionally, women are less likely to receive preventive therapies — including lifestyle advice — compared with men at similar risk levels, said Dr. Martha Gulati and Dr. Kavita Sharma from Ohio State University in Columbus. The issue is complicated by risk factors peculiar to the disease in women, such as those related to pregnancy and autoimmune disease.
“CAD [coronary artery disease] is a leading cause of death of women and men worldwide,” their review, published in July’s edition of Global Heart, the journal of the World Heart Federation, states. “Yet CAD’s impact on women traditionally has been underappreciated due to higher rates at younger ages in men.”
Rates of coronary heart disease have declined 30 percent in the last decade, but have actually increased in women under 55, the researchers said. Additionally, more women than men die from the disease, which has taken more female lives than cancer (including breast cancer), chronic lower respiratory disease, Alzheimer’s disease and accidents combined.
— Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.
WAIT BEFORE YOU GO...MedPage Today:
CT scans and other imaging techniques show that women have narrower coronary arteries than do men, and are more likely to suffer CAD due to microvascular disease. So while appearing not to have major coronary artery obstructions, women suffer symptoms due to blockages of these smaller vessels.
Women without obstructive CAD suffer repeated hospitalizations and testing due to symptoms of ischemia.
In contrast, obstructive CAD is more commonly found in men who are symptomatic and can be treated with aggressive medical therapy or stenting. This type of CAD is less frequently seen in women.
This year, the ground feels uncertain — facts are buried and those in power are working to keep them hidden. Now more than ever, independent journalism must go beneath the surface.
At Truthdig, we don’t just report what's happening — we investigate how and why. We follow the threads others leave behind and uncover the forces shaping our future.
Your tax-deductible donation fuels journalism that asks harder questions and digs where others won’t.
Don’t settle for surface-level coverage.
Unearth what matters. Help dig deeper.
Donate now.
While Americans were quietly preparing to ring in the New Year, the EPA gave families a deadly present to start the year off wrong.
Studies of the link between heat and health matter, especially because the past decade in North America has been confirmed as the hottest in 11,000 years.
A team of U.S. and South Korean scientists correct a disease-causing mutation in human embryos.
The first large analysis of takotsubo, or “broken-heart syndrome,” shows that the condition can be just as deadly as other cardiovascular diseases -- and that most victims are female.
People "give up" coffee the way they do cigarettes and red meat, but numerous studies tell us that unlike those other vices, America's liquid breakfast of choice has many health benefits.
You need to be a supporter to comment.
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.