The silent killer that claims more women’s lives than breast cancer
WOMEN in Ireland are six times more likely to die of cardiovascular disease (CVD) than breast cancer, the latest statistics have shown. CVD is the most common cause of death and disability in Ireland, but many of the symptoms in women can go unrecognised.
Dr Andrew Roy, consultant cardiologist with the Mater Private Hospital in Dublin, says women need to be aware of all of the symptoms and risk factors to protect themselves from the disease, as well as the steps that can be taken to reduce the risk.
‘Statistics show that about one third of all Irish women die as a result of cardiovascular disease, yet many women still view heart disease as illnesses that strikes men,’ Dr Roy explains. ‘Women are more likely to have a heart attack without experiencing the crushing chest pain, so it is really important that they know and understand the other symptoms that can indicate something is wrong.
‘There are a number of different risk factors identified in women,’ he says. ‘They sometimes are identified late as traditionally men have always been thought of as being the ones who have cardiovascular disease so their risk factors are acted upon.’
As a result women are slower in getting to the doctor when they are experiencing symptoms.
‘Women’s health seeking behaviour when it comes to cardiovascular disease tends to be a little bit slower,’ Dr Roy says. ‘Sometimes they can have risk factors that probably aren’t always addressed at an earlier stage.’
Cardiovascular disease could begin as early as your 20s or 30s, depending on your risk factors.
‘The risk factors include smoking, obesity, high blood pressure or high cholesterol or any family history of coronary disease,’ Dr Roy says.
‘All those factors can begin relatively early in life. Certainly the risk factors are reversible and treating or reversing them can chance the progression of coronary disease. By removing those risk factors you can prevent plaque from positioning in the arteries.’ Removing the risk factors can also help slow down the progression of the illness. ‘If you do have plaque already in the arteries, by actively treating those ongoing risk factors you can delay the progression of CVD and the point where it actually starts to cause problems,’ Dr Roy says.
‘Those problems appear at the end stages of CVD in the form of heart attacks or the development of heart failure, but there is a lot of space in between where you can cause the plaques in the arteries to become very stable or in some cases to even shrink,’ Dr Roy says.