LETTER OF THE MONTH

Thank you for producing a magazine I enjoy and read every month from cover to cover. The article ‘A Heart in Your Hands’ in the June issue was extremely dear to my female heart.

It has inspired me to write and maybe reach other women who, through no fault of their own, have a life-changing condition (because there is no treatment) as I do.

Thank you for highlighting the difference between male and female heart dysfunction. Much of the article resonated with me, particularly the mental toll.

However the example given of a woman experiencing a coronary arterial blockage and receiving appropriate care does not tell of an emerging female heart issue.

Like your example, I was fit, led a healthy lifestyle with no obesity, high blood pressure, cholesterol or diabetes. But at the age of 56, I experienced several episodes of jaw and arm pain, weakness and breathlessness with exercise.

All hospital tests were reported as normal or normal variations, including two angiograms with no blockages causing these symptoms. Many women present like this and are sent home with a diagnosis of non cardiac pain. However, I have non-obstructive heart disease, a condition seen predominantly in women, and one that is only being accepted and researched in the past few years.

Misdiagnosis is often anxiety or gastrointestional, or if you keep turning up at hospital, it can be labeled as a hyper-sensitivity to your symptoms.

A stress echo test showed my heart was unable to keep up with the extra demand required when exercising, or vacuuming or bending and lifting etc.

The cause may be coronary microvascular disease of arteries not seen by current technology, or endothelial dysfunction of the arterial linings, where either spasm or some other dysfunction is slowing the flow of blood to the heart muscle.

An international support group has been my lifeline. Christine