Strategies for Women to Lower Heart Disease Risk and Boost Survival Rates

Health experts suggest what preventative measures women can take to reduce their risk of heart disease and improve mortality outcomes.

Similar to men, the most typical sign of a heart attack in women is chest pain, pressure or discomfort that either persists for a prolonged period of time or comes and goes. However, especially in women, chest discomfort is not often the most prominent symptom or even the most severe one.

In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Dr Rajesh Bhat U, Associate Professor and Senior Interventional Cardiologist at KMC Hospital in Mangalore, shared, “Women frequently report the pain of a heart attack as tightness or pressure. Furthermore, chest pain is not always a sign of a heart attack. Symptoms of a heart attack unrelated to chest pain are more common in women than in males.”

According to him, these symptoms include:

• Neck, jaw, shoulder, upper back or upper belly (abdomen) discomfort

• Shortness of breath

• Pain in one or both arms

• Nausea or vomiting

• Sweating

• Lightheadedness or dizziness

• Unusual fatigue

• Heartburn (indigestion)

Compared to the intense chest pain that is frequently connected to heart attacks, Dr Rajesh Bhat U revealed that these symptoms could be less evident and more nebulous. He said, “This may be due to the fact that women are more likely than males to have blockages in both their major and minor arteries that feed blood to the heart, a condition known as coronary microvascular disease or small vessel heart disease. Compared with men, women tend to have symptoms more often when resting, or even when asleep emotional stress can play a role in triggering heart attack symptoms in women.”

The cardiac expert added, “Women may receive a heart disease diagnosis less frequently than males because the symptoms of a heart attack can differ in women from men. When there is no significant arterial blockage, women are more likely than males to get a heart attack (non-obstructive coronary artery disease).”

Heart disease treatment in women:

Dr Rajesh Bhat U said, “Treatment for heart disease is generally the same for men and women. Medication, angioplasty and stenting, or coronary bypass surgery are some of the options.” Men and women handle heart disease differently, with some notable differences being:

• Men and women handle heart disease differently, with women being treated less likely than men to avoid future heart attacks by taking statins and aspirin. However, studies show the benefits are similar in both groups.

• Women are less likely than men to have coronary bypass surgery, perhaps because women have less obstructive disease or smaller arteries with more small vessel disease.

• Heart disease recovery and overall health can be enhanced by cardiac rehabilitation. But compared to males, women are less likely to receive a referral for cardiac rehabilitation.

Highlighting that CVD in women is under-recognised and under-treated in clinical practice due to many reasons, Dr Rajesh Bhat U asserted that there is a need for awareness about CVD among women as the natural history of CVD is different in women than in men. He pointed out, “Women are protected from CVD due to estrogen but post menopause the risk is higher than men. Awareness and good diagnostic tools are necessary to evaluate the different aspects & for early detection of CVD in women. Management of risk factors and optimal treatment of underlying conditions can reduce the risk of CVD in women.”