Women do not take heart attack risk seriously

Men seem more risk-conscious than women

28/10/2013

A heart attack is by no means exclusive „Männersache“, but like that „German Heart Foundation“ also reports one of the leading causes of death in women in industrialized countries. However, compared to men, many women do not pay enough attention to the first symptoms and often notice infarction too late.

Not just cardiovascular disease „Männersache“
Cardiovascular diseases are still the leading cause of death in Germany, to which 40.2% of all deaths were attributable last year, according to the Federal Statistical Office. But even if, based on current data, every second person dies of heart disease, not everyone feels equally threatened by the danger. Instead, the risk awareness of heart disease appears to be much higher in men than in women. This is the result of a recent study by the Charité Berlin.

Significant misjudgments among women
Again „Focus“ reports, the scientists of the Berlin Clinic have come to the conclusion that women assess the risk of heart disease significantly lower than it is in reality and therefore often do not even recognize warning symptoms in time. Men, however, would suspect a heart attack significantly earlier in infarct-typical signs of illness such as pain in the left breast and radiating into the left arm - and therefore usually also seek immediate attention to a clinic. According to Focus, the study found that 62 percent of subjects between the ages of 25 and 34 expect to have low risk of cardiovascular disease - although most participants have at least one of the known risk factors, such as obesity , Smoking, high blood pressure or diabetes.

Many women surprised by poor health outcomes
Among other things, the study found that a quarter of women aged 25 to 34 had elevated cholesterol levels, and another quarter of the participants did not know that they were already suffering from diabetes, according to cardiologist and study director Vera Regitz-Zagrosek the magazine. However, according to Melchior Seyfahrt, the chief physician of the heart center at Helios-Klinikum Wuppertal, the misjudgment with regard to one's own health is not only a matter for women. Instead, be the topic „Men and heart disease“ also more present in public, because „when a man falls over on the street and takes his heart, everyone immediately thinks of a heart attack“, so the doctor. This is different for women, because in case of a collapse this would be more likely „just“ thought of circulatory problems.

However, the different reaction of the public is not so far-fetched - because in women in the run-up to a heart attack usually quite different alarm signals occur than in men. Thus, according to the German Heart Foundation in addition to the „classic badge“ such as pain in the chest, which can radiate into the arms, upper abdomen, back or even jaw, in women also comparatively common also so-called „nonspecific symptoms“. These include severe shortness of breath, nausea and vomiting or upper abdominal discomfort. In addition, the symptoms in the chest area in an infarction would not necessarily occur as in the men in the form of severe pain, but rather as a kind „Pressure or tightness“, which, however, should be taken seriously to the same extent. Therefore, women should always consider a heart attack on the advice of the Foundation, „especially when such signs occur in unprecedented violence“. Hence the urgent appeal of the heart specialists: „Any heart attack, regardless of the nature of the condition, can cause a sudden cardiac arrest at any time without further notice. With the slightest indication of a heart attack, the 112 should be chosen immediately.“ (No)