Every year about 54,000 women die from diseases associated with the heart and circulatory system (hypertension, ischemia or heart failure), which The main causes of death are respiratory malignancies and tumors.A reality that is not widespread enough, which is why the Argentine Society of Cardiology (SAC) promotes a bill to declare October 9 as the National Day of Awareness of Heart Disease in Women.
“We believe that it is necessary to establish an awareness day about heart disease in women because risk is underestimated in society, In women themselves and even in health professionals”, cardiologist Veronica Krosa, director of the heart and women’s sector ‘Draw’, indicated to Tellum. SAC’s Liliana Grinfeld.
For example, the expert mentioned the case of a 46-year-old woman who died a few days ago on a flight from Barcelona to Eziza: «Most of the news talk about the woman who starts with panic attacks and later becomes insane; And here it is important to clarify Manifestations of heart disease in women may be different than in men And one of these symptoms can be mistaken for a panic attack,” he said.
However – he added – there is a classic symptom that we doctors in the faculty are taught and all health professionals relate to the symptoms that man develops; Therefore, since women express cardiac symptoms differently, they are often underdiagnosed. It is believed that it is really nerves, that he has had a panic attack, that his stomach hurts because he has eaten something heavy.etc”.
The lack of perception of women themselves about the risks of heart disease can be seen in surveys conducted by their sector in the SAC: «When we ask women what they consider to be the main cause of death, More than 60% of those surveyed answered ‘tumor’ (breast, ovarian, uterine cancer) when in fact one in eight women die of this cause while one in three die of heart disease,” the expert pointed out.
As per the latest important data bulletin of the Ministry of Health, In 2021, 53,933 women will die from diseases related to the circulatory system in Argentina (15,289 of them due to heart failure, 10,576 due to ischemic heart disease etc.); While 5,820 died of breast cancer, 2,995 of uterine and 1,195 of ovarian cancer.
In this context, which has been going on for decades, in 2004, through the American Heart Society (AHA) Movement ‘Women in Red’ (Get red for women) Drawing attention to this reality, cardiology societies around the world are urged to take action.
Responding to this call, the SAC in Argentina convened a group of cardiologists led by Dr. Liliana Grinfeld, and on October 9, 2005, the Heart and Women Area was established within the Scientific Society, which has been actively involved ever since. is working Promotion, research and training of professionals in the prevention and control of cardiovascular disease in women.
“That’s why we chose this date to propose a national day,” Kroesa explained.
For biological and socio-cultural reasons, specific risk factors exist in women and trans women. Which are common in men such as high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, sedentary lifestyle, smoking, etc.
“These common risk factors can have varying effects. For example, Diabetic women have a 40% higher risk of suffering from myocardial infarction than diabetic men, If she is hypertensive than the man, she is also at higher risk of heart failure,” he described.
With regard to sedentary lifestyles, he noted that “women do less physical activity than men; On the one hand, because culturally Since we were young, we have been instructed to do activities and games that do not require much movement.And on the other hand, because people who want to do some physical work often can’t find space in their schedules to do it.
“in regard of Smoking is the only risk indicator that is declining in the country, largely thanks to the enactment of Law 26,687 in 2011, which established a de facto anti-smoking policy; That is why we want this law to be approved to see if we can achieve any effect,” he insisted.
Croce pointed out that “there are biological risk factors that are unique to women, such as early menopause (before age 45 or 40); pregnancy complications such as preeclampsia, hypertensive disorders, gestational diabetes, preterm labor, or recurrent miscarriage, Chronic inflammatory diseases such as rheumatic diseases that have a clear prevalence in women (for example, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus and other collagen diseases) or having breast cancer”.
“But there are other risk factors that are associated with female gender, that affect both cis and trans women, and that are related to female gender.” Long-term stress resulting from sexual violence or sexual abuse because people who have been subjected to these situations have more adrenergic discharge And a chronic inflammatory factor, increased drug use, obesity, less adherence to healthy guidelines and more smoking, so these conditions increase the risk of a cardiovascular event,” he explained.
In this group of risk factors he “inequality in access to employment and education; maternity hospital in uncertain circumstances, without support, subject to caring conditions or coexistence with violent people” and finally, socio-environmental factors “that affect women more, such as people who cook with firewood.”
Although the official presentation Bill declaring October 9 as National Women’s Heart Disease Awareness Day passed on May 4The proposed regulation was reintroduced to the Senate today to report the details of the regulation.
During the meeting, the experts agreed that the main objective of the project is to raise awareness among women about their cardiovascular risk, motivating preventive actions.
In its lessons, the project proposes to establish that ‘the national executive branch, through the competent bodies, propagates by written, digital, radio and television media in the month preceding that date, Organizing events and running awareness campaigns about the problem and its incidence in women which emphasizes the importance of prevention and periodic control. Spring tailam,
This content was originally published on RED/ACCIONA and is republished as part of the “Human Journalism” program, an alliance for quality journalism between RÍO NEGRO and RED/ACCIONA.