Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Thiruvananthapuram
Visakhapatnam
Why women bypass their heart
|
Women are more vulnerable to heart disease than men. But the fact is that eves are generally lax about heart care. LEELA MENON looks into the problem
|
WOMEN ARE generally more unguarded about heart disease than men, a fact that has now been scientifically proved. They are eight times more likely to die from heart disease and stroke than from breast and ovarian cancer combined. While statistics in the U.S. reveal that 250,000 women lose their lives to a variety of cancers, including 40,000 women who die from breast cancer every year, the number of women who die from heart disease and strokes are more than 5,00,005.
Scary statistics indeed but it does not seem to scare the women as much as the fear of cancer.
While women in the U.S. and Western Europe queue up to undergo the routine mammogram tests, they seldom, if ever, bother about their cholesterol levels. Not until they are hit by heart disease or felled by strokes.
"Women are dead-scared of breast cancer or cervical cancer. But actually it is heart disease they die from," says Dr. Jose Chacko Periapuram, chief, division of Minimally Invasive Coronary Artery Surgery and heart transplants at the Medical Trust Hospital here.
There is another myth women harbour. They believe that heart bypass surgery can be conducted only outside Kerala, and not in Kochi, where there are at least two hospitals, which excel in performing bypass surgery. Their own dismissive priority about their health, the high cost and the fear that it could be fatal also dissuade women from opting for bypass surgery.
Women are likely to develop heart ailments later than men, at least by ten years. While, men can become a victim of heart disease by the age of 45, it hits women only after 55 or after their menopause, a reason that prompts women from ignoring their heart health. Till then the oestrogen levels protect them.
Another fact that they do not know is that 44 percent of women die within the first year of heart attack while only 27 per cent of men lose their lives during this time. "Women reach the hospital too late. The general social perception is that it is the men that get heart attacks not women, a false and possibly fatal conviction that makes women more vulnerable to heart disease," Dr. Jose says.
Like Lakshmikutty Amma. She was 80 when she decided to undergo bypass surgery. "In fact, she celebrated her 80th birthday in the hospital," says Usha Menon, her daughter.
"It is a very rare case. No operation is performed on people at the age of 80. I think Lakshmikutty Amma could quite possibly be the first woman to undergo by pass surgery at 80," says Dr.Jose. He has performed 11,000 operations during a span of five years, but there are just 225 women in the statistics. "She is the first eighty-year-old I have operated so far. There have been men patients who have been 86 or so," he adds.
Lakshmikutty Amma was suffering from heart disease for the last eight to nine years, and had survived three heart attacks before she decided to undergo tests. Her doctor advised her against undergoing surgery at her age, but while she was in hospital itself she suffered two more attacks, compelling her physician to recommend angioplasty. But her Angiogram revealed four blocks and damage to a valve, which necessitated bypass surgery. And Lakshmikutty Amma was brave enough to accept the decision and agree to the surgery. "I was sick of these attacks and thought it was better to opt for surgery than continue to be victimised by my heart," the benign old lady smiles.
Lakshmikutty Amma is an exception. She went through the surgery, survived it, but never experienced any sort of post-operation trauma of pain, which is a normal enough symptom in most patients.
She cannot be blamed for ignoring the first symptoms because the signs and symptoms of heart attack in women could be not only subtle, but also vastly different from those experienced by men. The pain may be identical as also the breathlessness that accompanies a heart attack. "But in women the symptoms mimic a flu, stomach pain, nausea, extreme fatigue and back pain. Research has not yet explained why heart problems manifest differently in women," explains Dr. Jose.
A tightness around the chest during an activity or at rest could be an early symptomCholesterol is another problem, which can be corrected by modifying lifestyle if discovered in time. "People should monitor their cholesterol levels from the age of 35, especially smokers, or those with a family history of coronary disease as well as the obese. Cholesterol score should be kept below 200. LDL (Low Density Lipids) score, which indicates bad cholesterol should be below 129, though 100, is ideal. For HDL (High Density Lipids) or good cholesterol the score of 60 or above prevents heart disease," explains Dr. Jose.
What is now clear is the fact that heart disease is largely preventable and that preventive measures are simple. Awareness and timely attention can reduce the incidence of death and disability due to strokes, a curse in old age. What is needed is awareness about the disease and the importance of preventive measures. Ignore and neglect of early symptoms at your own risk!
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Thiruvananthapuram
Visakhapatnam
|
