Heart attack a pure man thing?

Women suffer heart attacks differently than men

Contrary to popular belief, it is not cancer, but heart attacks and strokes that are the leading cause of death among women in Germany. While the rate of deaths from cardiovascular disease decreases in men, it decreases less in women and increases between the 40s. and 60 years of age even. This is attributed, among other things, to smoking, physical inactivity and overweight.

There are also differences in the symptoms of heart attack: "The classic signs such as annihilating chest pain radiating to the arms, the upper abdomen, in the back or in the neck or jaw feel women compared to men much less often. They tend to have nonspecific symptoms, such as severe shortness of breath, nausea, or vomiting, "explains Professor. med. Volker Klauss, specialist in internal medicine and cardiology in Munich. As a result, they come to the hospital later and are also less likely than men to receive a treatment that complies with the guidelines.

Therapy then offers a choice of different procedures. In addition to a change in lifestyle and a drug therapy, the affected vessel can be opened, for example, by implanting a stent. To assist physicians in choosing the best possible therapy, there is a diagnostic technology - the Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR). This allows a more detailed physiological analysis of the narrowings of the vessels.

Doctors can thereby recognize the severity and determine which narrowing is responsible for the complaints. "Based on the resulting so-called FFR value, it is now possible to determine which treatment is required and whether the patient needs one or more stents. In this diagnostic method, we insert a thin wire over a probe, ie a cardiac catheter, into the coronary arteries, "says Professor Klauss. "The measurement does not pose an additional burden for the patient." If a stent has to be placed, FFR can also be used to check in the catheter laboratory whether the oxygen supply is now ensured again or further expansions are necessary. (Pm)