In this month of February, heart month, several patients, doctors and health professionals took the floor – at the initiative of the Heart & Stroke Foundation – to demand greater equity in health research and care. cardiovascular for women. As medical specialists, we add our voice to theirs and invite the population to attend a discussion1on March 8, during which we will reflect together on possible solutions to take better care of women’s cardiovascular health, while raising public awareness of this issue.
Heart disease has been the leading cause of premature death for women in North America for the past 30 years. According to the most recent data from Statistics Canada, nearly 30,000 women die each year from heart disease. Yet about 40% of the population doesn’t know that heart disease and stroke are the leading causes of premature death in women2.
This situation must change. It is time for women’s hearts to be better studied in order to provide better care, faster diagnoses and appropriate treatments. To achieve this, we must catch up on our delay in terms of research, but also raise awareness among the population and the medical profession so that the signs of a heart attack in women are better recognized.
Medicine is just beginning to understand the functioning of the heart of women, which has its own particularities. And even if the prevalence of heart disease within the female population has increased over the past few years, the therapeutic orientations have unfortunately not evolved at the same pace.
Currently, women are underrepresented in research: two-thirds of clinical studies in heart disease are conducted by men.
In the absence of scientific data, doctors have no choice but to extrapolate the results observed with a male sample.
As a result, women who have a heart attack are less likely to get a quick and accurate diagnosis and receive the medications and treatments they need, on time.
Moreover, the warning signs of a heart attack would have gone unnoticed in 50% of women. Unlike men, women may not experience chest pain, but rather describe a feeling of warmth, pressure, or heaviness. Since they are more insidious, these symptoms are often attributed to other causes.
Risk factors are also distinct for heart disease and stroke in women, particularly for physiological reasons, but also because their life course is different.
Knowing that nearly 80% of cardiovascular diseases can be prevented by healthy lifestyle habits, raising awareness is one of the main actions to be taken to prevent them. By recognizing the risk factors and warning signs of a heart attack, for example, women will be able to act more quickly. In some cases, it could even save their lives.
Women’s cardiovascular health should be a priority issue for people, government and society. Better representation in studies, creation of specialized clinics, improvement of the care pathway and investment in research: there are many avenues to explore to improve patient care.
Together, let’s take women’s heart health to heart.
* Co-signers: Dr Arsène Basmadjian, President of the Association of Cardiologists of Quebec; Dr Louis P. Perrault, President of the Association of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeons of Quebec