Do women have worse outcomes after a heart attack? Expert shares surprising fact | Health

Heart attacks occur much more frequently in males as compared to females, so much so that the left anterior descending artery or the main artery of the heart, which is often the culprit in severe life-threatening heart attacks, is referred to as a “widow-maker artery”. For a long time, it was believed that heart disease was common in men but rare in pre-menopausal women.

Definitely, things are changing however, when heart attacks occur in women, are they serious enough? In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Dr Kaushal Chhatrapati, MD DM, FACC FSCAI FESC and Senior Interventional Cardiologist, shared, “A study done in Europe answers this very question and that too with an unexpected answer. Not only are heart attacks in women serious, but they also have twice the mortality of men! This was indeed surprising but the observation has several explanations.”

He explained, “First, women have more widespread disease at presentation than men. When women develop heart attacks, they generally have several risk factors like diabetes, Hypertension and Cholesterol as compared to men. Moreover, women presented with atypical symptoms, so there was a danger that the symptoms are never ascribed to heart attack hence, never get treated until it is too late. Also, symptoms in women are more likely to be labelled as “Hysterical” or “Functional”. Smoking prevalence is rising in women hence, heart attacks are becoming more common in women. Exercises are less frequently done by females.”

He added, “Since females are considered “immune” to heart attacks due to female hormones, many doctors do not suspect heart attacks in females. Lastly, unfortunately, many women are not the breadwinners of the family. Unfortunately in India, many families are hesitant to treat non-earning female members with expensive Angioplasty procedures in the event of a heart attack. Due to all these reasons, women with heart attacks are far less likely to receive timely treatment (Angioplasty in most cases) after a heart attack than men, thus explaining the difference in their mortality.”

Asserting that this needs to change, the health expert opined, “We as doctors need to realise that women are no longer immune to heart attacks, and all cases of chest pain, irrespective of sex should be treated with the same degree of seriousness. Similarly, risk factor control should be equally stringent for both sexes. More and more women are now employed, and hence enjoy health insurance benefits: this may mitigate discrimination by family members. Government-sponsored health schemes also offer free treatment to both sexes, thus making universal healthcare possible. Women are 50% of the population. To neglect the health of half the population is criminal. As the nation becomes more mature, we should see to it that women get the best treatment possible.”