‘Heart disease hits busy working women the hardest’

Chennai: For modern women, the task of juggling their professional and family responsibilities has never been easy. And, while they take care of all their carrer and family priorities, they often overlook their own health and well-being.

Women, especially busy, working moms, are most of the times too busy to take care of their health and are at increased heart disease risk.

Indians have higher risk of heart disease at young age compared to other populations. And when compared to men, young Indian women have the worst outcomes.

In women, approximately 35 per cent of heart attacks are believed to go unnoticed. If you’re a busy women, or know such a woman you care about , here’s what you need to know.

Heart disease isn’t just for men or old people.While it’s a common misconception that heart diseaseis men’s disease,both men and women can be at heart disease risk.

Heartattack causes nearly 1 in 3 deaths in women.In fact, heart attack is women’s no. 1 killer. As compared to men,women with hypertension and diabetes are at higher risk of atherosclerosis, a condition in which plaque builds
up inside arteries. Not only this, women are more likely than men to have chronic stable angina, a serious heart problem.

“Worldwide, the leading cause of death among women is not breast cancer, but it is the heart disease. It accounts for 25-30 per cent of deaths among women. Unfortunately awareness of heart disease among women is dismally low when compared to that of breast cancer. There exists a misconception that heart disease is a disease of men. May be true, till the women attain menopause. The female hormones, particularly the estrogen gives protection against heart attacks till they attain menopause, whether it is natural or surgical. Lack of awareness, Misconception that heart disease is rare among women, atypical presenting symptoms like fatigue, upper abdominal or back pain, sweating, breathlessness etc instead of typical chest pain are the reasons for delay in seeking medical care among women,” said Dr S Shanmugasundaram, cardiologist, Chennai.

In India, high blood pressure, obesity, and unhealthy diet are the risk factors of  heart disease that are specific to women. Poorly controlled diabetes also poses a greater risk of heart disease for Indian women.