Heart disease also known as cardiovascular disease refers to the wide range of disorders that affect your heart and blood vessels. These diseases include blood vessel disease or coronary artery disease, irregular heartbeat/ arrhythmias, congenital heart defects, and disease of the heart muscle and heart valve. The most common symptoms of heart disease include chest pain, dizziness, fainting, shortness of breath, slow heartbeat, pain in the neck/jaw, etc.
Women can suffer from any kind of heart disease at any age. Though coronary artery disease is one of the most common types of heart disease in women, there are other heart diseases including Coronary Microvascular disease, broken heart syndrome, and Variant angina which is less common but affects women more often than men. To manage the symptoms of this disease you need to visit a cardiology hospital in Siliguri.
Reason why women need to visit a cardiology hospitalmore often than men
Biological differences:
One of the main reasons why women are more likely to suffer from cardiovascular diseases is due to biological differences. The men and women differ in various ways including their hearts. Women may suffer from different symptoms because the size of their hearts is relatively smaller compared to men’s hearts. The women may experience subtler heart disease symptoms which can lead to misdiagnosis.
A heart attack is also caused when cholesterol plaque build-up inside the walls of arteries causing damage to blood vessels. In case of women, this plague is a buildup in the smallest blood vessels of their heart known as microvasculature. This is why women require different diagnosis and treatment as compared to men.
Heart attack symptoms:
Chest pain is one of the most common symptoms of a heart attack which is evident in both males and females. But sometimes women may face other complications which may seem to be unrelated to heart attack including nausea and back pain. It is always believed that chest pain indicates a heart attack but there are other complications as well. The women may likely have other symptoms of heart attack which include neck/ jaw/ shoulder/ upper back pain, shortness of breath, pain in one or both arms, nausea, unusual fatigue, and heartburn or indigestion.
You need to book an appointment with the best cardiologist in Siliguri to manage these symptoms because they can be more noticeable than chest pain. As compared to men women are more likely to have these symptoms while resting or when asleep. Also, women are more likely to suffer from heart attacks with no severe blockage in the arteries.
Menopause
Once women reach the age of 50 they are more likely to suffer from menopause. Also, young women who have undergone early menopause have a higher chance of developing heart disease. This is because, after menopause, your body regulates less estrogen making you more vulnerable to heart diseases. If you have menopause and you are facing certain health issues including diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity you may have a greater risk of developing heart disease.
Pregnancy complications:
Pregnancy complications are one of the main reasons for heart disease. This is because your body experiences many changes during pregnancy and these changes may put extra stress on your body and force your heart to work harder. Pregnancies can cause different complications including high blood pressure or hypertension, diabetes Arrhythmias, Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD), myocardial ischemia, and Peripartum cardiomyopathy. These make women more likely to suffer from heart disease.
Diabetes:
Diabetes is the major risk factor for heart disease in both males and females. This disease can affect the heart in several ways including disrupting the distribution of oxygen throughout the body, facilitating the production of LDL (bad) cholesterol levels which causes plaque buildup, producing fatty acids, and developing atherosclerosis. Generally, women with diabetes are more likely to suffer from heart disease than men because they tend to have more body fat, inflammation, and hormone fluctuations.
Stress and depression:
Stress and depression may affect the heart of women more than that of men. This is because acute psychological stress results in the progression of coronary atherosclerosis and other chronic diseases which are responsible for cardiovascular disorders. The change in the hormone levels of women can disrupt the rhythm of the heart which increases or worsens the existing heart diseases. In contrast, women experience broken heart syndrome which is a stressful situation that causes temporary but severe heart muscle failure.
Longer time to recover:
Women may take longer time to recover from heart disease than men is because of the delayed diagnoses. Another factor is due to different symptoms which require complex surgery to treat this disease and take longer time to recover. Women also experience mental disorders like anxiety which slows recovery and they are more likely to suffer from silent heart attacks leading to unnoticed damage.
Conclusion:
Heart disease is a condition which affects the function of the heart and damages the blood vessels. Coronary artery disease is one of the most common types of heart disease that is common in both men and women. To diagnose this disease and get the necessary treatment you can visit a cardiology hospital in Siliguri. Women need to visit the hospital more often than men due to biological differences, different heart attack symptoms, menopause, complications that may arise during pregnancies, diabetes, and stress. This is the reason why women take a longer time to recover from this disease as compared to men.
