Page 53 - Healthy (March - April 2020)

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A new report has found two women every day are dying needlessly
after a heart attack because they don’t get the same treatment as

men. It’s time to end this inequality, says Dr Kamal Chitkara

veryone is more aware of heart disease these days,
MIND E about heart health – including the idea that the
thanks in part to TV programmes, articles like this,
and social media, but there are still a lot of myths

symptoms of heart attack are diferent for men and women.
The reality is that we experience similar symptoms but
women are more likely to ignore them and be ignored by
doctors. In fact, a woman is 50 per cent more likely than
a man to get the wrong diagnosis after a heart attack.
THE how to prevent coronary heart disease (CHD) could help
But learning more about the symptoms, risk factors and
bridge the heart-attack gap.

IT’S NOT A BOYS’ CLUB
It’s a huge misconception that heart disease only afects men.
Historically, more men may have been diagnosed with CHD,
or show up at hospital having a heart attack, but that’s not
because women don’t get CHD. It actually kills twice as many
UK women as breast cancer. One reason it’s often missed is
(heart because women tend to ‘explain away’ their symptoms.
This could be because they don’t experience heart attack
symptoms as intensely as men – their pain might only be a
attack) put palpitations and shortness of breath down to anxiety or
2-3/10 rather than the 9/10 they’re expecting; they may also
over-exercising, or think they’re too young for CHD. In turn,
GPs can ignore symptoms and misdiagnose female patients.
This all means that when women do have a heart attack,
they usually arrive at hospital much later than men, with
more severe symptoms. Getting the right care is crucial at this
GAP men to receive potentially life-saving treatments in hospital.
point, but several studies show that women are less likely than
Life after a heart attack is diferent for women, too. We
know women are less likely to attend cardiac rehabilitation
services – many have family commitments or are unsure what
they’ll get out of the programme – plus they tend not to meet
targets aimed at preventing another heart attack, such as
reducing cholesterol. However, doctors are also less likely
to prescribe drugs, like statins, that can help.

LOWER YOUR RISK
While this may sound scary, there’s a lot you can do to tackle
CHD (see our tips on the following page). One of the most
efective is to reduce high blood pressure. It’s called the
‘silent killer’ because 90 per cent of patients have no obvious
symptoms. It’s thought that 2.5million women in the UK
have undiagnosed high blood pressure, so ask your GP to
check your numbers.
Reducing your cholesterol is also important, but don’t
focus on this single risk factor. Even if you have normal
cholesterol levels, you can still develop CHD and have a
heart attack. Your family history, diet and smoking all

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