Health Desk
Women are eight times more likely to die of a heart attack than breast cancer, yet few bother to get screened for heart disease, which is the leading cause of death for both men and women.
Heart disease shows both an age and gender bias. The symptoms, risk factors, management and outcomes of heart disease can differ widely for men and women, with the disease often being under-treated, misdiagnosed or missed altogether in women.
In India, heart disease rates for both genders are nearly the same, though there are far fewer women smokers. Men develop heart disease a decade or so earlier than women, but the odds are stacked against women after menopause at around age 50. Still, women are more likely to get a mammogram done to screen for breast cancer screening than an angiogram to detect heart trouble.
