The Informer
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • NATIONAL
    • POLITICS
    • WORLD
  • CRIME WATCH
  • LIFESTYLE
    • RELATIONSHIPS
    • HEALTH
    • ENTERTAINMENT
    • MAN OF VALOUR
    • SOUL FOOD
    • WOMAN OF ESSENCE
    • TRENDS
    • NAIROBI SEX CLINIC
  • THE INFORMER TV
  • VIDEOS
    • NEWS VIDEOS
    • CORPORATE
    • ENTERTAINMENT
    • SPORTS HIGHLIGHT
  • SPORTS
  • MORE
    • BUSINESS
    • GRAPEVINE
    • SPECIAL REVIEW
    • OPINION
    • CAREERS
    • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Advertisement
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • NATIONAL
    • POLITICS
    • WORLD
  • CRIME WATCH
  • LIFESTYLE
    • RELATIONSHIPS
    • HEALTH
    • ENTERTAINMENT
    • MAN OF VALOUR
    • SOUL FOOD
    • WOMAN OF ESSENCE
    • TRENDS
    • NAIROBI SEX CLINIC
  • THE INFORMER TV
  • VIDEOS
    • NEWS VIDEOS
    • CORPORATE
    • ENTERTAINMENT
    • SPORTS HIGHLIGHT
  • SPORTS
  • MORE
    • BUSINESS
    • GRAPEVINE
    • SPECIAL REVIEW
    • OPINION
    • CAREERS
    • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
The Informer
No Result
View All Result
Home News

Why more women die of heart attacks

by The Informer
February 21, 2019
in News
Reading Time: 3min read
Why more women die of heart attacks
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on WhatsappShare on LinkedInShare via Email

One evening, you tune in to your favourite medical drama. As the scene opens, the calm of the hospital is shattered when a patient grabs their chest and collapses to the floor. The impossibly good-looking medical team rush in and work feverishly to save the heart attack victim.

In your mind did you picture a man or a woman having the heart attack?

Most people associate heart attacks with men. But cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death globally for both sexes, and 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. Treatment guidelines, however, are based on data collected primarily from men.

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.

RelatedStories

Axed former KAA Managing Director Lucy Mbugua appointed regional ICAO boss

CBK Governor nominee Thugge propose floating of Dollar bond to stabilise erratic shilling

More women are dying 

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.

Why does the same condition kill more women than men?

Heart attacks without pain 

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. Whilst most studies find that women who have heart attacks take longer than men to obtain medical care, these differences are relatively small.

Clinical guidelines set checkpoints for tests and treatments that are often missed in women. 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.

Most accurate diagnostics not used 

Troponins in the blood (proteins released when the heart muscle has been damaged) are the gold standard biomarker for diagnosing heart attacks. But the criteria for troponin testing were created using data collected primarily in men. Men have up to 2.4 times the circulating levels of troponins as women.

This means increased troponins in female heart attack patients may not exceed the diagnostic threshold. Up to 20 per cent of heart attacks are missed in women when using the male threshold for identifying heart attacks.

Angiography identifies blocked coronary arteries in a heart attack, but it does not detect blockages in the microcirculation that often occur in women.

Imaging tests like PET and SPECT are more accurate diagnostic tools for women with heart attacks. Unfortunately, these imaging tools are not routinely used, causing women to go under-diagnosed.

Fewer women get cardiac rehab 

Women who have a heart attack are less likely to receive recommended therapies.

Interventions like cardiac catheterization and bypass surgery are less common in women.

At discharge, women are less likely to receive prescriptions despite evidence that mortality is reduced when drug guidelines are followed.

Long-term treatment for heart attack patients includes cardiac rehabilitation. These services are underused in general, but by women in particular.

Women are less likely to be referred to cardiac rehabilitation by their physician. Even when referred, women are less likely to adhere to the program and more likely to withdraw before completion.

Sexism in heart research 

Treatment guidelines are based on data collected primarily from men. A 2016 statement from the American Heart Association notes that recommended heart attack treatments benefit women, but definitive data on sex differences in treatment efficacy are lacking.

Investment in basic research that identifies sex-differences in health and disease are a prerequisite for devising more effective, sex-specific therapies, as is the inclusion of more women in clinical trials.

Research agencies have guidelines to increase the inclusion of women in clinical trials and promote research into sex differences in cardiovascular disease. However, these recommendations must be enforced to have an impact on women’s health.

The bottom line is until the glass ceiling of sexism in cardiovascular research is broken, women will continue to suffer the consequences. -DAILY MAIL

The Informer

Previous Post

Why some Kenyans are against Huduma Namba

Next Post

Bandits kill 5 police reservists in Baringo

More Stories

NIS DG designate Haji declines to state wealth, questioned over dropping of graft cases during vetting
Crime Watch

NIS DG designate Haji declines to state wealth, questioned over dropping of graft cases during vetting

May 31, 2023
Uganda reverses perversion push, enacts harsh anti-LGBTQ law including death penalty
Home

Uganda reverses perversion push, enacts harsh anti-LGBTQ law including death penalty

May 29, 2023
Kenya and Russia to boost trade relations, president Ruto says
Business

Kenya and Russia to boost trade relations, president Ruto says

May 29, 2023
Next Post
Bandits kill 5 police reservists in Baringo

Bandits kill 5 police reservists in Baringo

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

ADVERTISEMENT
  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Nairobi Assembly Speaker Ng’ondi to chair special sitting on supplementary budget

Nairobi Speaker face ouster over alleged employment malpractices, abetting ghost workers

May 26, 2023
Fact or stereotype: What makes Ugandan women tick in bed?

Fact or stereotype: What makes Ugandan women tick in bed?

August 4, 2022
‘Wash wash’ PS nominee: Former Kiambu Chief Officer Finance Faith Njeri Harrison nominated for PS post

‘Wash wash’ PS nominee: Former Kiambu Chief Officer Finance Faith Njeri Harrison nominated for PS post

May 16, 2023
Diplomatic slam as Canada dismiss Kenya’s Foreign Affairs CS Mutua tweet on job vacancies

Diplomatic slam as Canada dismiss Kenya’s Foreign Affairs CS Mutua tweet on job vacancies

May 17, 2023
Alleged Sh16billion tendering scam mar LAPFUND’s Bellevue housing project in Nairobi

Alleged Sh16billion tendering scam mar LAPFUND’s Bellevue housing project in Nairobi

December 9, 2022
4 police officers attached to notorious Kamukunji police station accused of robbery with violence in Sh373,000 theft

4 police officers attached to notorious Kamukunji police station accused of robbery with violence in Sh373,000 theft

June 3, 2023
Photo/ Courtesy

Erdogan set to be sworn into office as Turkiye president for the third term

June 3, 2023
Defence Principal Secretary Mariru tour PCEA Tumutumu and Naromoru Hospitals

Defence Principal Secretary Mariru tour PCEA Tumutumu and Naromoru Hospitals

June 3, 2023
 Government in push to grow manufacturing, president Ruto says

 Government in push to grow manufacturing, president Ruto says

June 3, 2023
President Ruto launch Hustler Group Loan

President Ruto launch Hustler Group Loan

June 1, 2023

Recent Posts

  • 4 police officers attached to notorious Kamukunji police station accused of robbery with violence in Sh373,000 theft
  • Erdogan set to be sworn into office as Turkiye president for the third term
  • Defence Principal Secretary Mariru tour PCEA Tumutumu and Naromoru Hospitals
  •  Government in push to grow manufacturing, president Ruto says
  • President Ruto launch Hustler Group Loan

Top Stories

4 police officers attached to notorious Kamukunji police station accused of robbery with violence in Sh373,000 theft

4 police officers attached to notorious Kamukunji police station accused of robbery with violence in Sh373,000 theft

by Wilberforce Kigen
June 3, 2023
0

Photo/ Courtesy

Erdogan set to be sworn into office as Turkiye president for the third term

by Ignatius Ouma
June 3, 2023
0

World News

Photo/ Courtesy

Erdogan set to be sworn into office as Turkiye president for the third term

by Ignatius Ouma
June 3, 2023
0

Axed former KAA Managing Director Lucy Mbugua appointed regional ICAO boss

Axed former KAA Managing Director Lucy Mbugua appointed regional ICAO boss

by Njoki Maina
May 31, 2023
0

Opinion

Retired president Kenyatta stamp authority at Jubilee party offices, ask rebels to quit peacefully

Don’t lower the stature of a retired president, Defence CS Duale to Uhuru Kenyatta over Jubilee Party fisaco

by The Informer
April 27, 2023
0

Photo/ Courtesy

Why Sakaja should crack down notorious cartels freely coning people in Nairobi’s CBD

by The Informer
October 26, 2022
0

  • Contact Us

© 2022 | The Informer - All Rights Reserved theinformer.co.ke

No Result
View All Result
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • NATIONAL
    • POLITICS
    • WORLD
  • CRIME WATCH
  • LIFESTYLE
    • RELATIONSHIPS
    • HEALTH
    • ENTERTAINMENT
    • MAN OF VALOUR
    • SOUL FOOD
    • WOMAN OF ESSENCE
    • TRENDS
    • NAIROBI SEX CLINIC
  • THE INFORMER TV
  • VIDEOS
    • NEWS VIDEOS
    • CORPORATE
    • ENTERTAINMENT
    • SPORTS HIGHLIGHT
  • SPORTS
  • MORE
    • BUSINESS
    • GRAPEVINE
    • SPECIAL REVIEW
    • OPINION
    • CAREERS
    • CONTACT US

© 2022 | The Informer - All Rights Reserved theinformer.co.ke

error: Content is protected !!