The research gap: How decades of male-focused studies impact women’s cardiac care
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for women, but many still underestimate the risks of conditions like coronary artery disease, heart failure, and angina.
This often happens because there’s a common belief that women are less likely to have heart health issues compared to men, which can lead to a dangerous oversight in understanding and addressing women’s heart health.
According to the World Heart Federation, cardiovascular disease is responsible for 35 percent of deaths in women each year, and it can affect females at any age. Since most cardiovascular health studies are focused on men, women continue to be undertreated for cardiac conditions.
What’s more, since some cardiovascular disease symptoms manifest differently in women, their concerns are usually ignored, and family members– and even some doctors– would tell them that they’re just being overly anxious about their heart health.
There’s a lot of misconception about heart disease in women, and this has resulted in notable gender differences when it comes to getting access to healthcare support. Here’s how decades of male-focused studies impact the quality of women’s cardiac care.
Bias in treatments and surgeries
There are a lot of differences in the way cardiovascular disease is treated and managed in men and women. For instance, in common heart conditions such as arrhythmia which causes the heart to beat too fast or too slow, medical experts usually recommend a medical procedure called a pacemaker insertion since it can help to regulate a person’s heartbeat.
However, according to a study of 7 million people which took place for a decade, it was found that permanent pacemaker implantation rates were consistently two times higher for men than women over 10 years.
The same is true for other cardiovascular conditions, such as acute coronary syndrome which causes sudden and reduced blood flow to the heart. ACS can result in a heart attack among other symptoms, and if not managed, it can be highly fatal. And yet, men receive more invasive procedures and higher standards of care and treatment than women for this heart condition.
Higher risk of being misdiagnosed
A lot of studies have proven that men and women have differences in their cardiovascular systems. Women have smaller hearts and narrower arteries, and these can affect how heart disease manifests and progresses in females. For example, to confirm whether a person is having a heart attack or not, doctors would often check for chest pains, which is a common symptom experienced by men.
However, a heart attack can be very different for women since they can experience vomiting or nausea, shortness of breath, and pain in their upper back, belly or jaw. Since these symptoms are not commonly associated with a heart attack, women are usually misdiagnosed. In worst case scenarios, they may even be told that they’re having a mental health-related issue instead, such as an anxiety or panic attack.
Combating gender bias
Some medical professionals are unaware that they’re delivering different care based on unintended gender bias. But it’s a fact that women are understudied and are often excluded from research and clinical trials related to cardiovascular health.
To have access to better care, women should be empowered to make their voices heard, and advocating for access to cardiac rehabilitation, health coverage and care, and increased representation in clinical medical research and clinical trials should be a priority.
Apart from that, the new generation of cardiovascular health professionals need to be taught that men and women should be treated equally when it comes to heart disease. Dr. Mary McGowan, who is the chief medical officer of the Family Heart Foundation, says that women should never be perceived as having a lower risk for heart disease than men. “We need to teach our medical students and young doctors in training that women should be treated as aggressively as men in terms of cardiovascular risk reduction,” she adds.
The research gap has contributed to discrepancies in the way men and women are treated for heart disease. If you feel that your concerns aren’t being heard by your doctor, be sure to seek advice from a medical professional who has a thorough and unbiased understanding of cardiovascular health, and get the care and treatment that you deserve.
