Deccan News Service ,hyderabad

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 problem or if there is a family history of heart attack at a younger age. Women tend to receive lesser 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 life style, Lack of physical activity and stress. 
Women with diabetes tend to have more risk of death from heart attack than men. So women with diabetes should take all medications and lifestyle changes seriously and keep the 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 attack rarely can happen during pregnancy due to the development of tear in the blood vessels of the heart.

Symptoms of heart attack in women:
• Chest pain the 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 burning sensation in the centre 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 major heart attack are:
•    Women tend to ignore the complaints because of 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
•    delay either due to traffic or distance to the nearest hospital
The benefits of treatment is maximum only when the patient reaches the hospital early. More the delay more is the damage. After 12hours of heart attack more than 90% of heart muscle will be permanently damaged. Hence it is always important to recognise and reach the hospital on time.
In summary, Cardiac diseases are 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 to do physical activity on daily basis to maintain an ideal body weight and lead a long and healthy life.

Dr Vinoth
Consultant Cardiologist
CARE Hospitals Hitech City - Phone :  040 61 65 65 65