The fact that heart disease is less common in women than in males is sometimes misconstrued as implying that women are heart-free. According to research released in 2020 based on the National Family Health Survey, 18.69 percent of women aged 15–49 years in India had untreated hypertension. It was 17.09 percent in rural regions vs 21.73 percent in urban areas.
The blame for this misperception, according to Dr. P. Vinodh Kumar MD, DM, Senior Consultant Cardiologist and Clinical Lead, Department of Cardiology, Prashanth Superspeciality Hospital, Kolathur, rests mostly with women. “Women with many cardiac risk factors, as observed in many of my patients and their companions, prefer to downplay their symptoms that are definitely connected to heart disease.” Women who arrive with heart attacks account for 10% of all instances in my clinic, and they frequently present much later and self-medicate under the belief that it is most likely a stomach symptom. This scenario can only be altered by raising awareness of the need of early detection of heart disease symptoms.
“It has been observed that we are culturally dismissive of a woman’s symptoms, and that they are presented to health care far too late.” This is more common in big joint families, even among the wealthy, when the decision maker is the joint family’s leader. Another factor, in my opinion, is that cardiac symptoms in women may not be the usual chest pain (angina), dyspnea, etc., but rather more broad and non-specific symptoms, which may be missed by a less experienced clinician. In women, a greater index of suspicion for cardiovascular disease (CVD) is required, as well as thorough risk profile to rule out CVD.”
Many women die from heart abnormalities every year, despite the fact that heart disease and related risk factors are frequently disregarded in women. The various causes are explained by Dr. Naveen Bhamri, Director and HOD – Interventional Cardiology, Max Super Speciality Hospital, Shalimar Bagh. “The main concerns for CVD are high cholesterol, blood pressure, and obesity, but mental stress, lack of physical exercise, and reduced estrogen levels after menopause are all key variables that render women more vulnerable to CVD.” Interestingly, all of these variables are overlooked and pushed to the background since women are preoccupied with caring for the rest of the family’s health. Women also acquire symptoms later in life because they are typically shielded by high estrogen levels.
