Heart disease rising among women

HYDERABAD: A latest survey mapping the trends of cardiovascular diseases in south India has revealed that there is an alarming 10-15% rise in cardiovascular disease (CVD) among young women. A substantial 81% of the doctors surveyed felt that women are less proactive about getting diagnosis and treatment done compared to men and many doctors felt women choose to ignore symptoms of heart disease.
In the survey 'Visualising the extent of heart disease in Indian women', 65% of doctors from south India said that women heart patients report late or fail to reach the hospital.

They attributed the rise in CVD among younger women to changing lifestyle that has also led to drop in oestrogen hormone count. Lack of oestrogen hormone is among the top five reasons for younger women in the age group of 20-40 years developing CVD, doctors said. "Quite contrary to conventional belief that due to oestrogen hormone 'women, especially menstruating ones, are safe from heart diseases,' lately, there has been a colossal rise in number of female cardiovascular patients. The trend may be attributed to changing lifestyle which is bringing such drastic hormonal changes that the heart protecting effect of oestrogen hormone is getting nullified," Dr Rajeev Garg, cardiologist, Yashoda Hospital, Malakpet, said.

The survey results revealed that due to marked changes in lifestyle, not only have the risk factors for the cardiovascular disease, like stress, smoking and drinking increased considerably but co-morbid conditions like obesity, hypertension and diabetes have also gone up.

Results showed a striking contrast between working and non-working women in terms of awareness and risk factors. While 81% of the doctors believed that working women are more conscious about heart health, majority of the doctors still noted that heart diseases are on the rise in working women.

"Considering the fact that working women juggle between home and work responsibilities, they are more likely to get exposed to stress and unhealthy lifestyle and therefore, could be more prone to cardiovascular diseases compared to women who are not working", Dr P L N Kapardhi, cardiologist, Apollo Hospital, Hyderguda, said. "Nevertheless, due to huge burden of household responsibilities and lack of self care, non-working women cannot be considered to be at lesser risk", he added.

Source: http://to.ly/m6Zf