If you’re a woman concerned about your health, the last thing on your mind might be your heart. Yet it should be one of the first, as 20 women a day die from heart disease in Australia.
Heart disease in Australian women is currently under-recognised, under-diagnosed and under-researched, says the Heart Foundation. It urges all women to become more aware of their risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) – which includes heart disease and stroke – and the different heart attack warning signs that affect women.
Different risk factors for women
Many of the traditional risk factors for CVD are the same for women and men: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity, an unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, and smoking.
Yet there are also risk factors specific to women, says Dr Monique Watts, a cardiologist and specialist in women’s heart disease at the Epworth and Alfred Hospitals in Victoria. She spoke with Heart Research Australia about the risks of CVD for women.
“Women have their own female-specific risk factors, such as obstetric complications like pre-term delivery, preeclampsia, and gestational diabetes, which all put women at much higher risk of heart disease.”
Natural oestrogen is very protective of your heart, so menopause, particularly early menopause, increases the risk too, explains Dr Watts.
“It’s important for women to know this, as this is new information we’re getting,” says Dr Watts. “So even if you don’t have high blood pressure and other traditional risk factors, you may still be at risk.”
Dr Watts also says she sees a lot of shame in her female patients, having a disease that’s traditionally considered a ‘bloke’s disease’.
“We need to change this, as heart disease is one of the biggest killers of Australian women. There is so much more to cardiac risk than how you look, and a lot of it is genetically determined.”
Signs of a heart attack in women
Women tend to present differently to men when they have a heart attack. While chest pain is still the most common heart attack symptom in both women and men, says the Heart Foundation, women are more likely than men to experience non-chest pain symptoms. These include jaw, shoulder or back pain, nausea or vomiting, dizziness, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, indigestion or tiredness.
If you are experiencing unusual symptoms and think you might be having a heart attack, don’t delay seeking help. Call Emergency Services right away. In Australia this is triple zero (000).
This article was previously published in the Well at Work Newsletter
