06 May The Aching Nation? – Stories behind the heart conditions in the UK
Healthy hearts together can strengthen a nation, but is UK becoming too vulnerable to heart diseases?
Listen to LAS paramedic Joe and St. Thomas’ cardiac nurse Donna underline the importance of speed when a heart emergency strikes.
Is heart disease the new breast cancer for women?
According to the NHS, women are dying more of coronary heart disease than of breast cancer, Somya Srivastava reports
Decades ago, heart diseases in women was thought to be uncommon, unfortunately the same cannot be said anymore.
Though, originally being termed as a ‘man’s disease’, coronary heart disease (CHD) has 2.3 million people living with it in the UK, of which 850,000 are women, as reported in the BHF Headline Statistics of 2015.
CHD, a type of cardiovascular disease (CVD), kills nearly one in every ten women, annually.
Of 7 million Cardiovascular Disease patients, 2.3 million are suffering from Coronary Heart Disease, killing 1 in 10 women, every year.
CVD itself is “responsible for 52% of all the deaths in the UK compared to the 3% caused by breast cancer,” says Dr. Jane Price, a cardiologist in London.
The NHS confirms that CHD is now three times more fatal than breast cancer in women.
Although, breast cancer affects nearly 44,000 women, every year, it is seeing significant improvements in the medical care and thus, is further increasing the chances for women to survive it.
In 2013, the Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) registered 506,790 deaths in England and Wales. Of this the Leading Cause of Deaths in Women, reported by the BBC, placed CHD second (killing 26,075 women) and breast cancer seventh (killing 10,144 women) while dementia was the first on the rank.
Breast Cancer to Coronary Heart Disease in women
SO, WHY ARE WOMEN BECOMING MORE SUSCEPTIBLE TO CHD?
A noticeable cause for this is the change in women’s lifestyle.
Blaming lifestyle is not as baseless as it seems. Lifestyle is a gradual routine that if it doesn’t check the right boxes, it can alone take one downhill.
The PwC report of 2013, charted 61% women were employed full-time in 2013 as compared to 59% in 2000. With more women working longer hours, it isn’t a dubious assumption saying women are left with less time or energy to look after their well-being. Despite, being mostly busy, there is an evident decrease in women’s participation in healthy physical activities.
Surprisingly, even mothers and housewives are at a risk, too. By often exerting themselves continuously, physically and emotionally, they can become a victim of chronic stress. The daily chores also exhaust them enough to give up on a run once a day.
Gradually, women become habitual of driving more than walking and having quick, cheap food than a proper meal. Essentially, most cheap meals often contain excessive animal or saturated fats, which take longer to break down.
Added to that, obesity increases the levels of both cholesterol, especially the LDL-C, (also called the ‘bad’ cholesterol) and triglycerides. With obesity overworking the heart muscle, the extra pressure can lead to formation of blood clots which, instantly, makes one prone to a heart attack.
Therefore, by cutting down on saturated and trans fats and monitoring the intake of HDL-C (also called the ‘good’ cholesterol) as compared to LDL-C is the ideal way of keeping the heart healthy.
As higher cholesterol levels can be inherent, too, getting timely check-ups by a GP will regulate the body’s mechanism of processing food.
Foods like nuts such as almonds or walnuts, dark chocolates, fish, olive oil, oatmeal and high fiber vegetables can raise the levels of good cholesterol (HDL-C). Source: Every Day Health
Besides that, women who regularly exceed the moderate levels of alcohol are at a higher risk of facing a heart trouble.
By sticking to the moderate intake, i.e. 1-2 units of alcohol a day – equivalent to 125ml – 175ml glasses of wine, as reported by the NHS Choices, one is, infact, helping the body to improve the HDL-C levels.
Lastly, an angina is also commonly seen in women. Angina is a chest pain that occurs when the blood flow to the heart is restricted. Women experiencing this in their 40s are often the ones who regularly smoke. The reason is because smoking leads to pre-mature menopause making a woman more vulnerable to developing a heart condition.
Though, working is a huge step towards women’s personal growth and for the country’s economy to hike, it also means that women have to be smarter in their choices. Even housewives need to work a little harder to make sure that a grim health situation doesn’t knock on their door.
Watch the British Heart Foundation fuel the enthusiasm in people, and vice versa.
The 5k/10k Regent’s Park Run, held on the chilly morning of March 14th, 2015, exuded the vigour of both the patients of a heart disease and those who came to support a loved one.
The British Heart Foundation, born and based in London for the past 50 years, has an admirable legacy of events, organised to raise funds for medical researches focusing on heart diseases across the country.
Featured Image- Heart Healt
