Concerted efforts are needed to address unmet needs and ensure parity of care for women with cardiovascular disease.
This is the clarion call issued in a joint consensus document from the British Cardiovascular Society (BCS) and affiliated societies, published this week in the journal Heart, which outlines the current gap in treatment for cardiovascular diseases between men and women in the UK.
“Despite significant progress in cardiovascular pharmacotherapy and interventional strategies, cardiovascular disease, in particular ischaemic heart disease, remains the leading cause of morbidity and mortality among women in the UK and worldwide,” the consensus. “Women are underdiagnosed, undertreated and under-represented in clinical trials directed at management strategies for cardiovascular disease, making their results less applicable to this subset.”
Authors of the paper, Vijay Kunadian (Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK) et al acknowledge that women have additional sex-specific risk factors that put them at a higher risk of future cardiovascular events.
“Given most cardiovascular diseases are preventable, concerted efforts are necessary to address the unmet needs and ensure parity of care for women with cardiovascular disease.”
The consensus document outlines the current status of sex-related differences in the diagnosis and treatment of each major cardiovascular disease area, and proposed strategies to overcome the barriers in accessing diagnoses and treatments among women.
“Globally, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in women. However, the misconception that it is a ‘man’s disease’ underlines that cardiovascular disease in women has contributed to its under-recognition and undertreatment,” the paper notes.
“Over 3.6 million women in the UK are currently affected by ischaemic heart disease, which kills one in 14 women. Approximately 30% of the total 81,765 myocardial infarctions (MIs) registered in the UK between 2022 and 2023 occurred in women. A discrepancy between women and men in the proportion of patients admitted with higher-risk ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) not receiving reperfusion treatment has been reported, and this phenomenon occurs more frequently in older women.”
