Red Alert for Women’s Hearts
October 31, 2009 by Peggy Rowland
Filed under Women's Health
“Red Alert for Women’s Hearts” isn’t a fundraising walk or a warning not to eat red meat. It’s a conference at the European Heart House in France on November 5 to address the subject of women and cardiovascular disease (CVD).
Worldwide, more women are killed by heart disease and stroke than anything else, yet much of the research to date has focused on men. The conference is a call to action for more gender-specific heart research for women. After all, 8.6 million women are dying each year from CVD.
A report to be presented at the conference reveals that in Europe, only 50% of the clinical trials (including both men and women) conducted in the last three years reported findings by gender. Plus, of the 62 randomized clinical trials published recently, only 33.5% of participants were female.
Professor Roberto Ferrari, President of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) says, “It is important to have special clinical trials conducted only on women because their cardiovascular pathology is … different from that of men and it is incorrect to apply data derived from studies on men to women.” The ESC represents more than 62,000 cardiology professionals across Europe and the Mediterranean.
According to US Agency for Healthcare and Research and Quality, recent research indicates significant differences in survival rates after heart attacks between men and women. For some reason, 42% of women suffering heart attacks die within one year, compared with only 24% of men.
Clearly, we do need more gender-specific research on women and cardiovascular disease.
(Image via stock.xchng)
