Ahmedabad: A person clutching his chest and wincing in pain is a classic picture depicting a heart attack (most commonly myocardial infarction). Experts, however, say that not all heart attacks give such a sign. Also, the manifestation is often different among men and women, they say. A study by experts at the UN Mehta Institute of Cardiology and Research Centre (UNMICRC) indicates that heart attack rates may be higher in men, but heart attacks are more fatal in women. Hence, early intervention and quicker hospitalisation are crucial.The study, ‘The gender spectrum of in-hospital survival post primary percutaneous coronary intervention for ST elevation myocardial infarction: Exploring age-driven trends’ by Iva Patel, Pooja Vyas and Karthik Natarajan among others, points at the trend where the major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) including stroke, heart failure, re-MI, or mortality prevalence was found to be 6.6% for men, but close to double at 11.8% for women after hospital admission.Dr Pooja Vyas, one of the authors, said that the highlight of the study was different manifestations of heart disease for women. The study had an analysis of 1,434 men and 314 women admitted after heart attack. “It is often diffused for women that can get manifested as extreme fatigue, nausea, and jaw or back pain among others,” she said.Dr Chirag Doshi, director of UNMICRC, said that the share of women patients among overall cardiac patients has increased over the past decade. “The gap of lifestyle and work conditions is filled rapidly, and thus women get susceptible to cardiovascular diseases post menopause,” he said.The study also highlighted that the mean age for women was about six years higher than that for men, whereas above 75 years, women had relatively higher odds of mortality compared to men.Dr Sameer Dani, chief interventional cardiologist at Apollo CVHF Hospital, said that the risk factors are now similar for both genders, and thus it is important to understand the signs and seek early intervention. “There surely is better awareness, but the need of the hour is to understand risk factors for both men and women and act upon them. Compared to population in the West, we are experiencing cardiac issues at a relatively younger age,” he said.
