6 April 2022
Heart disease takes three times more lives than breast cancer. Yet most women are aware of the warning signs of breast cancer, and we have national screening programs in place, women are far less likely to be aware of the risks and symptoms of heart disease. They still think it’s unlikely to happen to them but as the recent death of Senator Kimberly Kitching shows, it can strike any of us.
Many of the main risk factors for heart diseases are the same for both men and women. Eating well, quitting cigarettes, engaging in regular exercise, and cutting back on alcohol will help reduce risk of heart disease for all people.
But even if you do all of the above, you may still be at risk of suffering a heart attack or developing heart disease because there are other risk factors at play – some of which play a greater role in the onset of heart disease in women than men.
Research has revealed that women with diabetes are more likely to develop heart failure than men and we know that the risk of heart disease for women rises after menopause.
Being obese also increases the risk of coronary heart disease by 64% in women when compared with 46% in men according to a 2020 study in Nature.
It’s shocking that we are only finding out these differences now. They are only becoming apparent because we are finally starting to address the gender bias in medical research.
We also know that family history plays a huge role in your risk of developing heart disease – which is down to your genetics.
Whilst we can screen at-risk family members and put them on preventative treatments if needed, we know that we are missing many people, which is why it’s important we get our risk examined professionally.
Heart Health Checks are provided by GPs to women aged 45 or over, or over 30 if they are of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent and are covered by Medicare.
You’ll have your blood pressure, weight, blood sugar, and cholesterol levels checked followed by a discussion about your lifestyle. This information is collated to analyse your risk of having a heart attack within the next five years, which can be a lifesaver as there are so many things that can be done to reduce your risk – including making lifestyle changes and being put on preventative treatments.
Given the increasing levels of obesity, diabetes as well as spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) heart attacks affecting younger women, we’d support rolling out these tests for people in their 30s, or even in their 20s.
Only one in three women will experience a typical heart attack symptom such as pain in the center of the chest. Instead, many women have different signs from men.
Women often experience pain in their neck, jaw, shoulder, upper back, or abdominal pain and describe this pain as tightness rather than the crushing pain more normally associated with a heart attack.
Other signs can include shortness of breath, nausea, sweating, and dizziness.
We need to better communicate these subtle but very important differences to women, so they seek help as early as possible.
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The Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land, the Gadigal of the Eora nation, on which we meet, work, and discover.
Our Western Australian laboratories pay their respect to the Whadjuk Noongar who remain as the spiritual and cultural custodians of their land.
