How doctors discovered that women have heart attacks, too
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…)
How the Bee Gees can save your life during a cardiac arrest
The Bee Gees’ disco smash hit ‘Stayin’ Alive’ is more appropriately titled than anyone could have realized. Did you know that this 1977 song’s beat is the ideal speed at which to perform chest compressions in cardiac arrest victims? Having practised cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) with the song, research study participants could maintain the ideal rhythm weeks later by simply thinking about the tune as they performed the procedure.
Research from the University of Illinois, presented during an American College of Emergency Physicians’ scientific assembly in Chicago, found that at 103 beats per minute, the song Stayin’ Alive is almost the same pace as the recommended 100 chest compressions per minute for hands-only CPR.
Dr. David Matlock of the University of Illinois, an author of this study, explained that many people are put off performing CPR chest compressions as they are not sure about keeping up the correct rhythm. But CPR can more than double the chance of survival after cardiac arrest, if performed properly.
The last time I took a basic CPR course, I was taught to do 20 chest compressions followed by three breaths blown into the patient’s mouth. Or was that 15 compressions followed by two breaths? Who can remember, especially during the extreme stress of a real-life medical emergency? So it was good news when organizations like the American Heart Association decided a few years ago that hands-only CPR — rapid, deep presses on the victim’s chest until help arrives — works just as well as standard CPR for sudden cardiac arrest in most adults. (more…)
WomenHeart: “Still gender disparities in treating women’s heart attacks”
February is Heart Month! Please help to increase awareness of women’s heart disease – our #1 killer - by spreading the word to as many women as possible. For more information, visit WomenHeart: The National Coalition For Women With Heart Disease.
Heart Sisters featured in Heart Month interview
Every month, the U.S. government’s ’Office On Women’s Health’ newsletter Healthy Women Today features a column called Spotlight on Women’s Health. This monthly column includes interviews with medical professionals or people living with a variety of medical conditions.
“We ask the questions we know you’re interested in, so that we may provide an inside look at women’s health,” their editor explains.
February is Heart Month - and to mark this important awareness initiative for women, the Healthy Women Today editor interviewed me for their February issue about being misdiagnosed and sent home from the E.R. during my heart attack.
Read the interview, or you can subscribe to their free monthly e-newsletter. And to read the same story in a different place, check out another Heart Month interview in the February issue of Alive: Canada’s Natural Health & Wellness magazine.
Heart disease – not just a man’s disease anymore
Tragically, women still come up short when it comes to the diagnosis and treatment of heart disease. Mayo Clinic’s Dr. Sharonne Hayes, MD, director of the Mayo Women’s Heart Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota spoke recently to staff from WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women With Heart Disease . Learn more here about why inequities continue, and how women can empower themselves and others to achieve equal and quality care for their hearts:
WH: “Recent studies show that compared with men, women have a 50% greater chance of being delayed in the hospital Emergency Room setting, and that women are less likely to receive the same care as men in the hospital setting generally. Do these studies suggest doctors and emergency first responders are really having trouble spotting heart attack symptoms in women?
Dr. Hayes: “Yes. While on one hand, these findings are discouraging and reflect true disparities in care, on the other, we have to acknowledge that health care providers’ best efforts are hindered by the lack of good science about women and heart disease.
“There is no good study out there that tells us how similar or different women are from men when it comes to heart attacks. Sometimes, the symptoms are not clear, clustered differently, and can be attributed to something like indigestion or anxiety.
“If you find yourself in an ambulance or Emergency Room, don’t be afraid to say to the paramedic or triage nurse, “I think I’m having a heart attack.” You want a proper diagnosis, and a straightforward blood test and EKG are the starting points. If the thought crossed your mind that you might be having a heart attack, you need to speak up.” (more…)
