Stress, fatigue and smoking are responsible for heart disease and although this threat is associated more with men, it turns out that today and with studies to support, that women are just as threatened, if not more. The main cause ? Mental stress. This phenomenon also relayed by the Figaro, indicates that it is the consequence of mental stress, which is harder for the hearts of women.
1 in 3 women will die of cardiovascular disease. However, the diagnosis and detection of this disease in women are not yet clear.
In a study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, the follow-up of women's cardiac care compared to men was evaluated. Indeed, when we talk about a heart attack, we automatically imagine a man in his 50s who suffers from high cholesterol. Now, it is time to identify women in this health problem who are more and more victims and die more than men of a myocardial infarction.
Mental stress a major risk for women
According to a study published on NCBI, mental stress plays a major role in the risk of myocardial ischemia in women. In other words, mental stress is a provocative of this cardiac complication that manifests itself in an imbalance of the function of the heart, caused by a weak blood flow. It can result in occlusion or narrowing of one or more arteries of the heart.
For example, 150 women and 156 men who were under 61 years old and who had already suffered a heart attack, and 112 other volunteers with no history of heart disease, participated in a research. The latter focused on the functionality of the arteries of each participant after being subjected to a stress situation. Also, it was found that women who had previous heart complications were more likely to have myocardial ischemia than men. An explanation has been given that women are more exposed to microcirculatory abnormalities, such as very small coronary reductions in blood vessels.
In addition, the researchers found that this cardiac complication was also present in young women with coronary artery disease who were prone to myocardial ischemia due to mental stress. Also, the reason is that gender-related hormones, such as estrogen and progesterone, can be active and moderate the perception of stress and thus be predictive of cardiovascular events.
Take the hearts of women seriously
Women are more often victims of heart attacks nowadays. For thirty years, the woman began to adopt a stressful lifestyle, aggravated by poor eating habits, smoking, sedentary lifestyle, alcohol consumption and finally stress. It is therefore important to shake up the misconception that women are more protected from cardiovascular disease and to reconsider the health situation of women, who are becoming more of a concern today. Thus, in women, heart disease remains under-diagnosed and under-treated while it is taken more seriously in humans.
Symptoms of myocardial ischemia in women
According to a study, the health of women's hearts is becoming an emergency. Women often remain victims of their lack of knowledge of symptoms. Indeed, in humans, these symptoms are manifested by a pain in the chest that spreads in the left arm.
In women we note:
- A pain in the chest or in the shoulder
- Palpitations to the effort
- Tired
- Breathlessness
- Nausea
Also, many women may confuse palpitations and restless breathlessness with an anxiety attack and the physician's diagnosis is often oriented toward anxiety or depression. According to Professor Claire Mounier-Vehier, cardiologist and head of the department of vascular medicine at the University Hospital of Lille, other symptoms such as pain in the pit of the stomach and sweats are also to be considered.
