by Carolyn Thomas ♥ @HeartSisters
On the 10th anniversary of my Heart Sisters blog, I began to reflect on launching this site the year after my misdiagnosed heart attack (and my subsequent trip to Mayo Clinic to attend the WomenHeart Science and Leadership patient advocacy training).
Here are some fun facts about Heart Sisters: . Continue reading “Fun facts about my women’s heart blog”
by Carolyn Thomas ♥ @HeartSisters
I’d love to believe that if both a man and a woman suffering the same type of serious heart attack showed up together at the same Emergency Department, their treatments and outcomes would be the same. I wish I could believe that, but as cardiologist Dr. Martha Gulati wrote recently(1):
“Despite progress, gaps still persist in how we treat women, and the impact on outcomes. Decades of tracking outcomes continue to show gaps in the treatment of women, and similar findings have been replicated throughout the world.” .
Continue reading “Yentl’s bikini: Dr. Martha Gulati on women’s most deadly heart attacks”
by Carolyn Thomas ♥ @HeartSisters
A woman in one of my Heart-Smart Women presentation audiences told me about a conversation she overheard in our local Emergency Department, in which the physician said to the (male) patient in the bed next to hers:
“All of your cardiac tests came back ‘normal’, but we’re going to admit you for observation just to make sure it isn’t your heart.”
That story tells us that (unlike your average woman – i.e. me! – with cardiac symptoms alarming enough to propel her to seek emergency care, but unlucky enough to have tests that look “normal”), a man who shows up with both cardiac symptoms and “normal” test results does not need to fight to be believed. Continue reading “Why won’t doctors believe women?”
by Carolyn Thomas ♥ @HeartSisters
I sometimes think that, during the years I’ve been writing about women’s heart disease research, diagnostics, treatment or outcomes, I’ve heard it all when it comes to women being under-diagnosed and under-treated (yes, sometimes under-treated even when appropriately diagnosed!) I thought I was unshockable by now. But a study published in the journal, Women’s Health Issues (WHI) was indeed a shocker.(1) .
Continue reading “Fewer lights/sirens when a female heart patient is in the ambulance”
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