Why obese women are at greatest cardiac risk

UNHEALTHY lifestyles increase the risk of a heart attack for women far more than they do for men, researchers warn.

For decades heart disease was considered a problem which mainly affected middle-aged overweight men.

But while men remain more likely than women to suffer an attack, incidents among women are on the rise.

An Oxford University study of data from 470,000 people shows that women with high blood pressure or type 2 diabetes – both of which are linked to obesity, drinking and diet – see their heart attack risk rise more than men with the same conditions.

Women with type 2 diabetes, for example, are 96 per cent more likely to have a heart attack than women without. For men the

‘We must shift perceptions’

risk rises by 33 per cent. For women with severe hypertension – high blood pressure – the risk rises by 152 per cent compared with 71 per cent for men.

And women who smoke are 246 per cent more likely to have a heart attack, compared with 123 per cent for men.

The researchers, writing in the British Medical Journal, said that despite the increased risks women receive worse care.

Women are more likely to die as the result of a heart attack, with experts fearing this is because they regard heart issues as ‘typically male’ and do not seek help as quickly when they start noticing symptoms.

Professor Metin Avkiran, of the British Heart Foundation, said: ‘This is an important reminder that heart disease does not discriminate, so we must shift perceptions that it only affects men.’