Monday December 11, 2006
Study shows heart disease is No 1 killer of women
KUALA LUMPUR: A study by the Health Ministry from 1990 to 2005 has revealed a 135% increase in heart disease among women, said Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor.
She said that last year, 22.5% of deaths among women were due to cardiovascular heart disease.
“Heart disease is the number one killer of Malaysian women, not breast cancer,” she said at the launch of the website www.go-red.info, which aims to create more awareness about heart disease among women.
Rosmah, who is patron of the Go-Red Campaign, pointed out that 46% of women around the age of 50 suffered from heart disease compared with 10% from breast cancer. Also 31% of women around that age had died of heart disease while only 3% died from breast cancer.
“I hope the Health Ministry will lay out more aggressive campaigns to create greater awareness on this issue,” she said.
National Heart Institute consultant cardiologist Datuk Seri Dr Robaayah Zambahari, who is the Go-Red campaign advisor, said the lack of awareness about heart disease among women was not just among the general public but also healthcare providers.
“As a result, women tend to receive less treatment than men,” she said.
Dr Robaayah said while men tended to experience pains on the left side of the chest during a heart attack, women mostly had difficulty breathing and experienced pain on the upper part of the abdomen, which is sometimes mistaken for gastritis.
Among the women, who have a higher risk of getting heart disease were those who had reached menopause, led a sedentary lifestyle, were obese, diabetics and smokers.
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