Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Gender-Based Disparities in Heart Disease Care

New report: Heart disease can sneak up on women in ways that standard cardiac tests can miss.

I volunteer with WomenHeart, running the Chapel Hill in-person support group. I got involved with them in 2009 after my own surprise heart attack at age 40.

Lucky for me, I had more of the "classic" male symptoms, so it was hard for the ER to brush me off when I came in complaining of chest pain that was radiating down my left arm and up into my neck, jaw and ear.

The report the article talks about is called The 2011 10Q Report: Advancing Women's Heart Health Through Improved Research, Diagnosis and Treatment. If you want to read the whole thing, you can download a PDF here:

http://www.womenheart.org/documents/upload/FINAL-TO-PRINTER-6-15-11.pdf

It's a sobering look at the disparities in care that still exist in women's heart disease treatment.

We have to have a multi-pronged approach, not only educating women, but reaching out and educating the medical community as well.