We may look fit and healthy but we all live in fear of invisible killers striking again
WOMEN are far less likely to survive a heart attack or cardiac arrest than men, according to new research.
The five-year project from the European Sudden Cardiac Arrest network found females have a higher chance of dying following a cardiac arrest as doctors and nurses tend to be slower to provide resuscitation to them.
And they are less likely to spot heart failure in women as it is often seen as a man’s disease.
In the UK, 77 women die from a heart attack or cardiac condition every day and coronary heart disease (CHD) is 50 per cent more likely to be wrongly diagnosed for them.
Research from Imperial College London suggests 12,000 women in the UK have missed out on vital care when it comes to heart disease in the last two decades, with some dying as a result.
And many women don’t know what they’re up against.
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Heart Research UK discovered 73 per cent don’t realise CHD claims twice as many UK lives as breast cancer each year, while three in five women don’t know CHD risk increases after the menopause.
Kate Bratt-Farrar, chief executive at Heart Research UK, says: “It is imperative everyone is aware of the symptoms of heart attack, both the key symptoms such as chest pain, but also others such as an overwhelming feeling of anxiety.”
February is National Heart Month, raising awareness of critical care issues.
Clare O'Reilly spoke to four women who survived cardiac emergencies, with treatment that varied dramatically.
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‘MY HUSBAND WAS TOLD TO SAY GOODBYE TO ME’
CLAUDIA, 36: Two heart attacks and heart failure
CLAUDIA LYONS, from Fleet, Hants, is a full-time mum to Lily, six and Theo, two.
She gave birth to Theo in February 2020 and felt what she thought was indigestion two weeks later.
She says: "I felt awful.
My husband Alex, 37, called an ambulance and I was taken to hospital but while there I had a second heart attack.
An angiogram saw I had SCAD – spontaneous coronary artery dissection.
The artery that was supposed to pump blood away from my heart was ripping.
I was taken to the Royal Brompton Hospital, London.
I didn’t know at the time but my husband was told to say goodbye to me because I wasn’t going to make it.
I was in hospital for two weeks but they couldn’t tell me why it happened or that it wouldn’t happen again.
Around September 2021, I had the same symptoms.
I’d had another tear and then two weeks later, I had a fourth.
In less than eight months, I went from being completely healthy and a normal mum to having two heart attacks, five stents put in and classified as being in heart failure.
Normal heart function is around 70 per cent and mine is around 45 per cent.
I can’t stand for a long time, race after my kids or run – it affects every bit of my life.
One of the hardest parts has been trying to convince health professionals I know what I’m talking about.
I’m always dismissed when I go to hospital – SCAD doesn’t appear on ECGs.
I’m proof it can happen to anyone, regardless of your age or health.
‘NOW I GET NERVOUS WHEN JUST WALKING UP A HILL’
JESSICA, 38: Heart attack after going for a run
She says: "I’d been for a run and felt fine but that evening I had chest pain and pain down my right arm.
Looking back, they were heart attack symptoms.
I told Jake I didn’t feel very well and went to bed.
I woke up feeling fine so did my planned six-mile run and felt OK.
Then the next morning I dropped Jethro at school and did an HIIT workout.
But within a few hours I had the same symptoms again so I called the GP.
They told me to go straight to hospital and the doctor told me to stay calm but he thought I’d had a heart attack.
They were unsure why but told me it could be down to stress.
I was in hospital for ten days and was told I have a ten per cent chance of it happening again.
I’m still struggling to come to terms with how my life has changed.
I used to walk miles and play football with the boys, but now I get nervous just walking up a hill.
People think once you’re better then that’s it, but I had to wait for my heart to heal itself.
I still get ongoing chest pain.
There wasn’t any surgery or anything to ‘fix’ what had happened to me.
That is why it’s difficult to adjust.
‘FELT NO POINT IN ANYTHING AS I MIGHT NOT EVEN LIVE’
ELIZA, 24: Has had a heart transplant
AFTER Eliza Bell, from Penzance, Cornwall, was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy – a weakening of the heart – aged 12, the PR and podcast host had to deal with heart disease throughout her teens.
She had two pacemakers fitted before undergoing a heart transplant in February 2019.
She says: "The issue with heart disease is, it’s invisible from the outside, which makes it hard to diagnose and hard for people to understand.
I’m constantly told I don’t “look” like I’ve had a transplant or heart disease, even by doctors, but the truth is, most of my childhood and adolescent years were affected by my heart.
I remember using my disabled badge on holiday in Spain and a man came up to me shouting in Spanish, gesturing that I shouldn’t be parking there because I wasn’t disabled.
I’ve had several cardiac arrests in hospital and it’s not every day you hear about a teenager with a pacemaker.
I was 16 when I found out I’d need a heart transplant.
It felt like there was no point in anything as I might not live.
What’s the point of revising for GCSEs when you might not get the heart you need?
When I was 19, I went into end stage heart failure.
I had my transplant in February 2019 and it’s completely changed my life.
I’m doing a Couch to 5k running, I went to my first spin class and I can pretty much do everything I’ve never been able to do."
- Now listen to Eliza's podcast, Transplant Chats with Eliza
‘I’M STILL RECOVERING, CAN’T WALK FAST AND TIRE EASILY’
BETH, 49: Had a heart attack in 2022
GP Beth Meek, from Chichester suffered a heart attack in July 2022.
Despite telling doctors it was a cardiac arrest, her A&E consultant wasn’t convinced.
She says: "I was in a supermarket when I started feeling really unwell.
I felt sick and dizzy, it was a really odd sensation.
I then told my husband to call an ambulance.
In hospital, it took eight hours to be moved to the coronary care ward.
I was left sitting in A&E and not told to stay still or not move around.
Initially, I wasn’t monitored – and looking back, anything could have happened, I’m fortunate it didn’t.
Angiograms showed I’d had coronary artery dissections, as a few artery walls were separated.
I had four heart attacks, with tears occurring in my artery.
I had five stents fitted but no one can really tell me why it happened.
I’m still very much recovering from what happened to me, too – I tire easily and cannot walk very fast.
I’m an optimist so do try to look on the bright side, but my life is just totally different to how it was before.
I’ll never know if a faster diagnosis would have changed my outcome.
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I remember trying to explain to the doctor what I thought it was and they replied by saying: “I think it’s best if you let me be the doctor.”
I wonder if they would have said the same thing to a male GP."
SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS
For women:
The Heart Research Institute says women are more likely to feel the following symptoms during a heart attack:
- Pain in the jaw, back or neck
- Shortness of breath
- Nausea, vomiting and cold sweats
- Overwhelming weakness or fatigue
- Anxiety, lethargy and loss of appetite
- Heartburn or indigestion
- Light-headedness or dizziness
For men and women
- Chest pain, pressure or an aching sensation in the chest or arms that can spread to the neck, jaw or back
- Shortness of breath or breathing difficulties
- Nausea or vomiting
- Fatigue
- Heartburn, indigestion or abdominal pain
- Light-headedness or sudden dizziness
- Feeling faint or anxious
- Cold sweats