Why heart attacks are leading cause of death in women, and why many women are unaware of the higher risks they face
The deaths of film star Sridevi Kapoor and TV actress Emma Chambers are a reminder heart attacks kill far more women than breast cancer. Doctors explain the unique and aggravated risks women face, and precautions to take
Breast cancer is the biggest killer of women, right? The most prolific female cancer? Wrong.
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According to the World Health Organisation, seven times more women die of heart disease than breast cancer. Healthcare provider Siemens Healthineers Global concludes that heart disease and stroke account for almost half of all female deaths in China: 43.9 per cent. The Singapore Heart Foundation warns that heart disease has no geographic, gender or socio-economic boundaries, and nine out of 10 women exhibit at least one risk factor for heart disease.
So why are women so susceptible to this silent killer? What are those risks? And how does it feel to suffer a heart attack?
Many heart attack risks are similar in men and women. Obesity and diabetes are universal risks, as is high blood pressure. When blood pressure rises, the heart must work harder, which puts it, and the blood vessels, under strain. This, says Dr Susan Jamieson, “roughs up the walls of the coronary arteries, making a small piece of clot or blood debris likely to stick there and block the artery”.
High blood cholesterol, while a risk in both men and women, has different systems in women and men.
