Women may not be diagnosed or treated as aggressively as men.This is because, physiologically and diagnostically, women are affected differently by heart disease than men. Their symptoms are dizziness, nausea, and shoulder pain. Men on the other hand, have most of the classical signs of heart disease. These include crushing chest pains that radiate down both arms, both shoulders and to the neck. symptoms Because of their mild symptoms, they can be “misdiagnosed or under diagnosed” by their care providers, and are not treated as aggressively as their male counterparts.
Heart disease is the number one killer in women. It is called the "silent" killer because of the stealthy way in which it creeps up on women, hence the term "hidden". Women who mostly suffer these first attacks, have cardiac risk factors such as, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, and diabetes.
When women experience chest pain, they describe it as being "gas-like". This is often diagnosed as "indigestion". By the time they are actually diagnosed with heart disease, they are older, frailer and sicker than men. Diagnostic tests have shown that physiologically, women's arteries are shaped differently.
During an angiogram or test, the plaques that accumulate on the sides of women's arteries are seen to be opened outward against the walls. Blood is noted to be flowing through the open space . In men, the plaques occlude the lumen of the arteries, thus blocking the flow of blood. Because blood is flowing, both the caregiver and the patient "slack off" with the treatment, especially if no pain is involved.
Women should have access to services, be accurately diagnosed, have appropriate referrals, and the use of proven therapies, such as estrogen replacement and one Aspirin tablet per day. Research scientists discovered, that Aspirin therapy is the "drug of choice.
Women should be more active. "Active" does not mean being busy, nor does working for long hours mean that a person has had a lot of exercise. Active means physical movement such as walking or bike-riding, or taking the stairs instead of the elevator. One should do 10,000 steps per day. Being in the office all day, or even working through lunch, may only add up to 4,000 steps. One therefore feels "mental fatigue" not physical fatigue, at the end of the day.
Women are affected with heart disease differently than men, “both physically and in diagnostic manifestations”.
Heart disease is the number one killer in women. It is called the "silent" killer because of the stealthy way in which it creeps up on women, hence the term "hidden". Women who mostly suffer these first attacks, have cardiac risk factors such as, high blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes.
Diagnostic tests have shown that physiologically, women's arteries are shaped differently. Not only do women have arteries that do not initially become occluded, but their symptoms are entirely different.
During an angiogram, the plaques that accumulate on the sides of women's arteries are seen to open outward against them, and blood is noted to be flowing through. In men, the plaques occlude the lumen of the arteries, thus blocking the flow of blood. Men also have most of the classical signs of heart disease.
Women's symptoms should be treated as aggressively as men. They should have access to services, be accurately diagnosed instead of treating their "mild symptoms" as unimportan.they should also have appropriate referrals made for further evaluation, and be offered the use of proven therapies, such as estrogen . Some scientists maintained, that Aspirin therapy is the "drug of choice", since some women have reported problems of blood clots from estrogen therapy.
