And younger women face risk linked to hormones
ANOTHER factor for young women in particular is the risk of spontaneous coronary artery dissection ( SCAD), where a bruise or tear develops in a coronary artery which cuts off blood flow and results in a heart attack.
This is impossible to predict or prevent.
It is thought that four people a day in the UK have a heart attack due to SCAD, but they don’t have the usual risk factors associated with heart disease and the condition is not fully understood.
As 90 per cent of those affected are women, particularly during pregnancy, after childbirth or around the menopause, fluctuating levels of female sex hormones are thought to play a role in the condition.
Victoria Warnes, 42, from Maidenhead, Berkshire, thought she had pulled a muscle when she experienced chest pain while out jogging six weeks after giving birth to her second child, Wills, in 2017.
‘It was really painful but it felt similar to when I had pulled a chest muscle in my 20s playing tennis,’ says Victoria, who also has a daughter, Olivia, nine.
But the chest pain was actually a sign of a SCAD, which had blocked her main coronary artery by 97 per cent.
Four days later, when the pain worsened and climbing the stairs made her breathless, she went to A&E — where she had an X-ray and ECG. ‘I was a fit 35-year-old, so they were scratching their heads and couldn’t find anything wrong, so I went home and wasn’t given any advice.’
The next morning, becoming more concerned about the increasing discomfort as it wasn’t normal for her, Victoria managed to get a private appointment with a cardiologist — a CT scan showed the severe blockage in her artery and she was rushed to hospital to have a stent fitted to allow blood to pass through it.
‘It was very traumatic,’ she says. ‘ I was in complete disbelief and all I could think about were the children.
‘ Mentally, I was totally broken afterwards — I was so scared it would happen again.’ Victoria believes stress played a part in her SCAD.
‘I was stressed because my husband Rich [44, a business architect] was away for work and I was looking after a newborn and toddler alone, hardly sleeping, and still recovering from a caesarean section,’ she recalls.
Victoria had a stressful job at an advertising agency until maternity leave, but since the heart attack she has made big changes.
‘When I was having the stent put in, I promised myself I would reduce the stresses I can control — working crazy hours and commuting into London was one of them,’ explains Victoria, who now has annual appointments to monitor her heart.
She left her job and set up Our Baby Club, antenatal classes which focus on parental wellbeing.
‘It was a gift in the end because if it hadn’t happened, I’d still be burning myself into the ground,’ she says.