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Heartline Magazine July-September 2003
Heart Disease: #1 Killer of Women
The Heart Foundation of Barbados presented its Fourth Annual
World Heart Day lecture on Sunday, September 28, 2003 at the University of the
West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Lecture Theatre 1, in the New Teaching Complex.
A fair-sized audience heard presentations by cardiologist,
Dr. Raymond Massay, who spoke on the topic "Heart Disease in Women", and
consultant physician Dr. Vishal Poddar, whose topic was "Women and Strokes."
The proceedings were opened by the Love Couple - Edwin &
Jenny - who performed their prize-winning song, "Menopause”.
The feature address was given by the director of the Bureau
of Gender Affairs, Sheila Stuart. Dr. Adrian Lorde chaired the proceedings.
In his presentation Dr. Massay noted that heart disease in
women was a worrying issue, since it was, in fact, the number one killer of
women. One in three women will die from the disease, he said. Statistics
revealed that women have a 50% chance of dying from their first heart attack, as
against men, who have a 30% chance. Additionally, 38% of women die in the first
year after a heart attack, as against 25% men.
Dr. Massay further indicated that women of menopausal age
(55+ years) have a higher incidence than younger women, but the incidence of
coronary heart disease in women never equals the incidence in men at any age
In considering the causes of the poorer outcome for women,
Dr. Massay suggested that these included under recognition by both the doctor
and patient, also an increase in co-morbidites in women, such as hypertension
and diabetes.
To combat heart disease, women are advised to stop smoking,
increase physical exercise, eat sensibly, control diabetes and hypertension, do
not take hormones, and,
importantly, to know their family history.
Giving statistics for stroke, Dr. Poddar noted in his
lecture that stroke is the leading cause of disability in most industrialised
countries. In the US/Canada, for example, there are about 800,000 reported cases
a year. Figures for the Caribbean show an amount of 8,000 estimated cases per
year for Jamaica, 4,000 for Trinidad and 800 for Barbados.
The general outcome of strokes, Dr. Poddar reported, is that
one-third die within 1 yr., 60% have disability, and there is a 20% chance of a
recurrent stroke within 2 years. Among stroke survivors, 25% recover fully.
In looking at the risk factors, Dr. Poddar said that
hypertension, diabetes and obesity were the leading causes. In males, 67% of
strokes were due to hypertension, 28% caused by diabetes, and 18% by obesity. In
females, figures were higher
in each instance - hypertension, 72%, diabetes, 38% and
obesity 33%. Notably, the risk factor for males from smoking was 18%, while for
females only 2 %.
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