Women Equally At Risk With Men To Heart Diseases

Women are equally at risk with men to heart attacks.

However, compared to men, their risk for heart attack and heart-related diseases usually happens a little bit later than men.

According to Dr. Nick M. Cruz, a cardiologist and president of Philippine Society of Cardiac Catherization and Interventions (PSCCI), the impression stating that men are more likely to be hit by heart attack than women is a myth.

“Women also have heart attacks and the incidence of death from heart attack is the same as that of men,” Dr. Cruz said in a forum jointly conducted by the Philippine College of Physicians (PCP) and Philippine Heart Association (PHA).

Cruz added that the perception about men being more prone to heart attack can be attributed to some posters depicting them to be suffering from heart attacks.

According to him, the mindset which states that women have a longer life span creates the impression that only men are at risk of suffering from heart attack.

He further said that based on substantial data, cases of breast cancer, HIV, vehicular accidents and uterine cancer, when combined all together, are still lower than the number of heart disease cases among women.

He also corrected the impression that breast cancer is the leading cause of death among women.

“The truth is that the most common cause of death among women is still heart attack or heart-related diseases,” he explained.

With this, Cruz said they salute the advocators in supporting the fight against breast cancer as this raises awareness among women, prompting them to undergo early diagnosis in order to combat the disease.

“Let’s congratulate the people behind breast cancer awareness that they have made the people so aware that they (people) think it is the number one cause of death among women,” the cardiologist added.

He also said women should also be aware of the risk factors of heart ailments.

He noted that usually in the society, it is always the wives who drag their husband to seek consultation without thinking that they also need to undergo cardiovascular check-up.

He said the attitude of women as caring and thinking less of themselves makes them forget or disregard the need to take care of their hearts.

He added that heart attack usually happens among men at the age of 45.

For women, this ailment often strikes at the age of 55.

“Females are protected by estrogen (hormone) and that prevents heart attacks,” he explained.

However, he said that the risk of heart attack is higher for women who are in the menopausal stage.

According to Dr. Regidor R. Encabo, a member of PHA Council on Cardiac Catherization and PSCCI, it is important for women to recognize signs of heart disease through seeking early consultation.

“Women should also be aware that they are also candidates for heart attacks,” Dr. Encabo said.

He added that awareness is also a step to prevent sudden death due to heart attack.

Primary ways to prevent and manage the risk of heart disease include knowing its cause and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Encabo said it is important for patients and their families to know what to do in case they suffer ST segment elevation infarction (STEMI) wherein they will be needing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or angioplasty treatment/procedure.

A STEMI is a type of heart attack characterized by the full thickness of cardiac muscle.

The damage can result from acute interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart.

The PCI can reduce significantly mortality and another heart attack unblocking the blood vessel by threading a catheter (a thin flexible tube) to place a stent, a small structure used to open up narrowed blood vessels in the heart due to a plaque build-up or atherosclerosis.

This procedure is essential to prevent the muscle of the heart from dying.

At present, the maximum Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) coverage for PCI is only Php40,000.

The average cost of PCI for STEMI is from Php350,000 to Php400,000.

Rendering of PCI is ideally done within an hour-and-a- half from the admission in the emergency room.

Financial constraints often hamper treatment as many patients and their families cannot produce the amount needed for the procedure.

Another factor which hinders treatment is the consent needed from the patient’s immediate family.

The delay in the PCI or life-saving procedure therefore leads to untimely death if the relatives set to sign important documents for treatment are not present, thus, halting the treatment process.

As a remedy, cardiologists appeal for PhilHealth to earmark a bigger sum that could cover chunk of the procedures to make the PCI accessible to all.

Currently, the said proposal is still subject to evaluation. (PNA) BNB/LSJ