Women at increased heart disease risk
Women at increased heart disease risk
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Wednesday, 22, Mar 2006 03:30
Angina is as common in women as in men, according to new research.
The findings from scientists at University College London raise the possibility that doctors may be routinely missing angina symptoms in women.
Research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) found that angina in women is as common as in men, in contrast to heart attacks which have a higher rate in men.
The UCL team studied the records of over 100,000 patients with angina, and found that two women out of every 100 in the general population develop angina each year.
But the scientists warn that doctors are not always taking symptoms of angina in women seriously enough, which may result in increased deaths.
UCL's Professor Harry Hemingway said that the medical profession needs to wake-up.
"For women, angina is a more significant public health problem than many doctors, or indeed the general public, realise," Professor Hemingway said. "Women develop angina at a similarly high rate as men. And the angina which women experience is not benign in terms of death rates.
"We need to understand why women are relatively protected from heart attack but not from angina, and ensure fair access to investigation and treatment services."
Angina is chest pain or discomfort, typically brought on by exercise (or cold or emotional stress) and relieved by rest.
The risk of having a heart attack after having experienced angina can be reduced by taking 'secondary prevention' medications such as aspirin and lipid lowering drugs, but there is no cure for the underlying disease process of atherosclerosis, the researchers said.