On World Heart Day, focus is on women and children

According to leading cardiologist Dr Upendra Kaul, women, no less than men, are prone to developing cardiovascular diseases and diabetes makes women three to four times more prone to have a heart attack.

In fact, as the World Heart Federation observes September 29 as World Heart Day, it has professed to make 2012 the year of cardiovascular disease prevention among women and children.

Dr Kaul, Executive Director and Dean Cardiology, Escorts Heart Institute and Fortis Vasant Kunj, says women have still not completely shed the myth that 'heart attack is a disease of men' even though at least half of the deaths in women occur due to heart disease and related problems.

Moreover, he says, women might also experience heart attack differently than men who mostly experience chest pain in the situation.

"Some women do not experience chest pain during heart attack. In addition, women are more likely to have additional warning symptoms and signs like back ache, abdominal pain, jaw pain, shortness of breath, nausea and vomiting," says Dr Kaul.

Such variations of symptoms often cause a delay in recognising heart attack in women and may lead to more complications and a higher mortality.

The cardiologist says while the disease manifests itself during adulthood, it is right in childhood that its foundations start taking root.

It is imperative, therefore, that right lifestyle and habits are adopted in the early stages of life itself. MORE