Women and heart disease

Every year about 128,000 men and 103,000 women suffer heart attacks. Heart disease and disease of the blood vessels together claim nearly twice as many women’s lives as all forms of cancer.

Yet, in general, women don't believe they'll get coronary heart disease. They tend to see it as a disease for men.

Women can also experience different symptoms of heart attacks and angina to men. There are a range of symptoms associated with a heart attack; some are considered typical and others less typical. Women tend to experience the less typical symptoms.

Less typical symptoms include:

• a dull pain, ache, or ‘heavy’ feeling in the chest
• a mild discomfort in the chest that makes you feel generally unwell
• the pain in the chest can spread to the back or stomach
• a chest pain that feels like a bad episode of indigestion 
• feeling a bit light-headed or dizzy as well as having chest pain

It was previously thought that Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) provided some protection against heart disease in menopausal women. Research now shows this is not the case. It should not be prescribed solely to reduce a woman’s risk of developing heart disease.

What increases a woman’s risk of developing CHD?

The very same things that will increase the risk in men. Diet and lifestyle play an mportant part in keeping your heart healthy and women who smoke, or those who are very overweight, will increase their risk of heart disease no matter what their age.

Every man and woman over 40 should talk to their GP about having a regular assessment of their risk of developing coronary heart disease.

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