E-Paper
Women cope with heart disease better than men
Eves are tougher than Adams when it comes to heart disease, says a study.
It is a universally accepted fact that men are physically stronger then women, but when it comes to heart disease, women are tougher than their male counterparts, a new study by University of Michigan researchers has found.
According to the study, published in the most recent issue of the American Journal of Medicine, the researchers report the results of an exhaustive survey of 490 heart patients treated at U-M for a heart attack or severe chest pain who were enrolled in a research registry.
The patients provided demographic data about themselves, reported how many medications they were taking, and completed standardised questionnaires that assessed the severity and impact of their heart-related symptoms and other medical conditions, any limits on their physical function and activity, and their heart's capacity to help them perform daily activities and exercise.
The questionnaire also included the question "How severe do you think your heart disease is?" and asked patients to select from five choices: very mild, mild, moderate, severe and very severe. For the paper, patients were grouped into two groups: very mild/mild, and moderate/severe/very severe.
In all, 42 per cent of the women rated their heart disease as very mild or mild - no different from the 40.9 per cent of men who gave the same rating - even though they had much worse disease, took many more medicines, and experienced more serious symptoms and limitations on their daily lives. In other words, the women who had major problems related to their heart disease were just as likely to rate their disease as mild to moderate as men with far less-severe problems.
"It's important to understand women's perceptions, beliefs and attitudes about cardiac disease and its treatment. If women do not perceive their cardiac disease as severe, they may not pursue medical evaluation, treatment or rehabilitation," said senior researcher Steven Erickson.
Women are also more likely to delay seeking help for heart-related symptoms than men, and are less likely to receive heart-related diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. The root cause of these gender differences has puzzled researchers for years.
"Physician bias and lack of awareness have been leading suspects, but no one has examined differences in attitudes. Although our study cannot prove that women's 'toughness' influences their tendency to seek and accept aggressive care for their heart problems, we hope it prompts further investigation of this question," said co-researcher Kim A. Eagle.
The researchers say their data suggest that there's a relationship between gender and perception of disease severity -a relationship that might help explain the "gender gap" in delivery of heart-related health care to those who have survived a heart attack or bout of angina.
