Women dying ‘unnecessarily’ from heart disease, experts say
Thousands of women worldwide are dying from heart disease because it is wrongly thought to be a ‘man’s disease’, doctors and scientists say.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) was the “number one cause of death” among women, but despite significant advances in its medical treatment, many died “unnecessarily” because they were underdiagnosed, undertreated and underrepresented in clinical trials, the experts said.
A consensus statement drawn up by 33 leading health officials affiliated with the British Cardiovascular Society aimed to address unmet needs, ensure equity of care and improve health outcomes for women with cardiovascular disease in the UK and globally.
Among other things, it called for dedicated women’s heart advocates and heart centers to prevent the “needless death toll” from an essentially preventable disease.
Conventional risk factors, such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol, were often not treated as quickly or adequately as in men, despite them accounting for about half of all preventable cardiovascular disease deaths, the statement said.
Women also faced specific cultural, societal and financial challenges, which increased their risk of heart disease. In addition, their biology, physiology and body shape not only affected their risk of CVD, but also the effectiveness of diagnostic procedures and treatments, it added.
Health care professionals and the public wrongly believed that women’s risk of CVD was lower than men’s, the statement said. “Myths and unconscious biases within clinical practice and societal perceptions obscure the reality that heart disease does not discriminate based on gender,” the statement said.
According to the report, women’s voices too often went unheard and their heart complaints were not taken seriously enough.
Published in the medical journal Heart, the consensus statement read: “Worldwide, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in women. However, the misconception that it is a ‘man’s disease’ underscores how CVD in women has contributed to its under-recognition and under-treatment.
“More than 3.6 million women in the UK currently suffer from ischaemic heart disease, which kills one in 14 women.”
The experts said there was a “discrepancy” between men and women when it came to diagnosis and treatment, with women less likely to undergo certain treatments or diagnostic tests.
Women were also “often under-referred for treatment, leading to poorer outcomes,” they added. The statement also highlighted that women were “under-represented” in CVD clinical research.
The statement’s lead author, Prof Vijay Kunadian, said: “Heart disease, particularly coronary heart disease, is the biggest killer of women in the UK and globally. And yet to this day we see their symptoms being ignored or (women) being told there is nothing wrong with them, or being treated for something else, when all along they may have a heart problem.”
Global databases showed “year after year” that women were undertreated, leading to higher death rates after heart attacks. “We can no longer ignore this, it is high time we do something about it.”
Lives were needlessly lost because “if women received proper treatment, their lives could have been saved,” Kunadian said.
“People assume it’s a man’s disease – if a man complains, he’s more likely to get attention from the ambulance or the doctor, for example,” she added. “So we need to change people’s perspective and make people think that this is a woman’s disease too.”
In the UK, the Department of Health and Social Care has pledged to prioritise women’s health, a priority it says had been neglected by the previous government.