Heart disease ‘is not just a man’s disease’

NEARLY 200,000 women in Wales are living with heart and circulatory disease, new figures have revealed.

Current statistics from the British Heart Foundation (BHF) has also found that nearly 4,500 women in Wales are dying from conditions such as heart attack and stroke each year.

While heart attack survival rates have greatly improved, there is still no way of preventing people from developing coronary heart disease as they get older.

The BHF says these figures dispel the myth that heart disease is a “man’s disease” and show that much more research is needed to better prevent, diagnose and treat heart disease and stroke.

BHF-funded research has also found that women have a 50% higher chance than men of receiving the wrong initial diagnosis following a heart attack. This can lead to poorer outcomes.

Professor Sir Nilesh Samani, medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said: “These figures reveal the high and growing burden of heart and circulatory disease in Wales.

“They specifically highlight that women are not immune to heart diseases and there is a need for more awareness so they receive better and prompt care.

“We urgently need to fund more research to better understand the impact of heart disease and help develop new and better ways to prevent, diagnose and treat it.”

There are an estimated 3.5 million women living with CVD in the UK, with around 78,000 dying from conditions such as heart attack and stroke each year, accounting for a quarter of all female deaths.