Following my heart attack, my family doctor told me that when she was in medical school, the type of heart attack that I had was called a ‘widowmaker‘.
This was apparently because a 99% blockage like mine in this particular coronary artery was usually fatal, thus making the patient’s wife an instant widow. That story pretty well tells you that men – the ones who could ‘make’ a ‘widow’ – were considered at that time to be the only ones suffering this kind of heart attack.
Alas, there are still doctors who are unaware that, since 1984, more women than men die of heart disease each year. In fact, a 2005 American Heart Association study showed that only 8% of physicians (and an appalling 17% of cardiologists!) actually knew that heart disease kills more women than men.
So I was intrigued to run across this chronological overview on Gender and Cardiovascular Disease on Medpedia showing how over the past 40 years, the medical profession has gradually – and I do mean gradually – wisened up to the reality that heart disease is a woman’s disease, too. (more…)
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