What are the reasons for Heart Attack in women and How to prevent them?

Heart disease is the leading cause of heart attack in women across the world. Usually, females are protected from heart attacks till the age of menopause but this may not be true when women develop diabetes, thyroid problems, or if there is a family history of heart attack at a younger age. Women tend to receive less advice and treatment for heart diseases.

Risk factors for heart attack specific to women

Women tend to have some specific risk factors which are not seen in men.

Routine risk factors: Diabetes, High BP, High cholesterol, Sedentary lifestyle, Lack of physical activity, and stress.

Women with diabetes tend to have more risk of death from heart attacks than men. So women with diabetes should take all medications and lifestyle changes seriously and keep their blood sugar and cholesterol under control to prevent cardiac events.

Special risk factors: Endometriosis, PCOD (Polycystic ovarian disease), Diabetes, and high BP during pregnancy. Some autoimmune diseases like lupus and rheumatoid arthritis can also increase this risk. Heart attacks rarely can happen during pregnancy due to the development of tears in the blood vessels of the heart.

Symptoms of heart attack in women

Chest pain is the most common symptom of heart attack even in women. This chest pain may not always be typical. It may sometimes present as tightness or heaviness of the chest or a burning sensation in the center of the chest. The common belief that heart attack pain is always an unbearable severe chest pain is not always true. It may present as a mild pain or even as a non-chest pain like:

• Jaw pain or throat pain
• Indigestion 
• Unusual fatigue and dizziness
• New onset of breathing trouble while walking or at rest
• Palpitations

Reasons for delay in reaching hospital after a major heart attack are:

• Women tend to ignore the complaints because of the popular belief that heart attack is uncommon in women 
• They do not want to disturb the family members unnecessarily
• Due to the timing of the day
• Other members of the family might ignore the complaints of delay either due to traffic or distance to the near- est hospital

The benefits of treatment are maximum only when the patient reaches the hospital early. More the delay more is the damage. After 12 hours of heart attack, more than 90% of the heart muscle will be permanently damaged. Hence it is always important to recognize and reach the hospital on time. To summarise, cardiac diseases are usually undiagnosed or underdiagnosed in women due to various reasons. Hence they should be motivated to keep their comorbidities like diabetes, high BP, and cholesterol under control and do physical activity daily to maintain an ideal body weight and lead a long and healthy life.

Dr. Vinoth

Consultant Cardiologist at CARE Hospitals

Source: Deccan Vision