World Heart Day: Do Men and Women Have Different Symptoms of Coronary Heart Disease?

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the number one cause of death in the world, killing an estimated 17.9 million people each year.

4 out of 5 deaths from CVD heart attacks and stroke, and one-third of these deaths, occur prematurely in people under the age of 70.

Despite the amazing statistics Recent polls He revealed that millions of women are not worried about having a heart attack because they believe that only men suffer from fatal cardiac arrest.

According to a study conducted by Healthspan, more than 1 in 10 women believe that only men need to worry about a heart attack, and 1 in 8 women are not at all suffering from a heart attack. I don’t think about it, and I think one in four will have a different experience. Symptoms If so, to men.

According to official figures, more than 800,000 women in the UK alone currently suffer from coronary heart disease (CHD), the leading cause of heart attack.

In the UK, about 35,000 women are hospitalized each year after a heart attack. That’s an average of 98 people a day, or 4 people per hour.

So are women really more likely to die of coronary heart disease? And if so, why isn’t it always considered a woman’s problem? Here’s everything you need to know.

NHS is of various types CVDincluding CHD This occurs when the oxygen-rich blood flow to the heart muscle is blocked or diminished.

This increases the strain on the heart and can lead to:

by British Heart Foundation (BHF), CHD, kills more than twice as many women with breast cancer each year in the UK and is the largest female murderer in the world. Nevertheless, it is often considered a male illness.

“There is still the idea that women don’t get heart disease,” says Professor Peter Collins. Told the organization..

“Overall, women are more aware of breast cancer-like conditions and are unaware that coronary heart disease can be a greater risk.”

Currently, there are 2.3 million people living with CHD in the UK, with approximately 1.5 million men and 830,000 women.

BHF state It is a common misconception that men and women experience different symptoms of a heart attack, adding that while the symptoms vary from person to person, women do not experience them more or less often than men.

However, WHF add The symptoms, progression, and outcome of heart disease can vary from woman to woman, which often leads to women being underdiagnosed and undertreated.

Professor Collins agreed, adding that women’s heart attacks can manifest in different ways, and the reasons are complex.

“In women, a heart attack is more likely to be caused by a gradual erosion of fatty plaques in the coronary arteries, rather than a sudden rupture,” he explains.

“And it may be that women have higher pain thresholds. We know that estrogen is an effective anti-pain agent.”

According to the NHS, symptoms of a heart attack include:

If you suspect you have a heart attack, you should dial 999 for immediate medical assistance.

Learn more about the different types of CVD symptoms, including stroke and peripheral arterial disease. here..

Women die unnecessarily every day in the UK due to inequality in the perception, diagnosis and treatment of heart attacks. BHF..

In 2019, the organization released a study that estimates that more than 8,200 women in England and Wales died in 10 years because they did not receive the same treatment as men.

The BHF states that more lives are at stake as studies show that women who have had a heart attack delay seeking help.

Researchers have found that women are 96% more likely to get a false diagnosis of heart failure than men. This is because there is a big difference in that such problems are mistakenly regarded as “male illness”.

Risk factors for CVD are about the same for men and women. The exact cause is not clear, but the NHS states that there are many that can increase the risk of getting it.

You can read more about CVD risk factors here..