Heart attack, believed to be a "man's disease," is rising rapidly in women due to poor health and sedentary lifestyle, a new study has revealed.
The research published in women's health edition of journal Circulation analyzed medical records of more than 30,000 people from 35 to 74 years for instances of a heart attack between 1995 and 2014. The findings showed that there has been an increase of 27 percent, mostly women, in young patients ages 35 to 54 from 1995 to 1999.
Lowered Risk In Women With Active Lifestyle
"The greater percentage of heart attacks among younger patients is alarming," Melissa Caughey, co-author of the study and a cardiovascular epidemiologist at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, told Today.
The study examined the cardiovascular health of more than 5,000 women with no pre-existing heart condition. They were also made to wear accelerometers for up to seven days to measure their physical activity.
Naturally, the women who followed a regular routine of active lifestyle showed a lower risk of heart attack than their counterparts who have sedentary lives.
Guided Treatment: Men Vs. Women
Study findings also revealed that women were less likely to receive the same care as men do in response to heart attacks. Women are often dismissed as being anxious when they visit a doctor for blood pressure treatment.
However, a man's condition is treated way more seriously. As a result, women often end up being underdiagnosed or untreated, explained Dr. Elizabeth Piccione, assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh.
"This is a very important study," said Dr. Erin Michos, an associate professor of medicine and epidemiology and associate director of the Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Maryland.
Dr. Michos further added that this study is proof that a heart attack is not a man's disease. Women should not take their health for granted, thinking that they are too young to be inflicted by it.
