Tag Archives: women

Studies have identified gender differences in presentation, management and prognosis of acute cardiac conditions like acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Although older age and the presence of comorbidities contribute to higher mortality rates in women, shortcomings in the quality-of-care also negatively impact on the prognosis in women.5 Although numbers are increasing, only 29% of cardiology trainees and 16% of cardiology consultants are female.6 This disparity in numbers extends from the clinical setting into cardiovascular academia. Despite increasing numbers of female first authorship from 27% in 1994 to 37% in 2014,7 there is still a lack o

Introduction Recent data indicate that cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the leading cause of mortality in women.1 Nevertheless, CVD in women worldwide is frequently underdiagnosed and undertreated compared with men.2 The cardiac symptoms in women are often misdiagnosed and dismissed as anxiety related. Moreover, South East Asian women are known to have a considerably longer delay in seeking treatment due to education level, socioeconomic reasons, and limited mobility. Consequently, these women are less likely to obtain guideline-based treatments such as statins.3 The application of non-invasive cardiac imaging techniques, notably cardiac

Researchers analysed data on more than 45,000 patients (30.8% women) hospitalised for a first heart attack between 2002–2016 in Alberta, Canada. They focused on two types of heart attack: ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), and the less severe non-STEMI or NSTEMI, the latter being more common. Patients were followed for an average of 6.2 years. Women were older and faced a variety of complications and more risk factors that may have put them at a greater risk for heart failure after a heart attack. Regardless of whether their heart attacks were STEMI or NSTEMI, fewer women were prescribed medications such as beta blockers or

Current status of women in cardiology In the UK, women make up 28% of higher specialty trainees and 13% of consultants in cardiology.1 This is a stark underrepresentation, particularly as women make up over half of doctors in Core Medical Training. One might expect that we were on our way to catching up with other medical specialties in terms of representation, but change has been slow, with no big increase in the percentage of women applying for cardiology for the last few years. The most recent BJCA annual survey demonstrated that gender differences persist in subspecialty interests in cardiology.2 This year, the most popular choice for wo

BSH Parliament day Professor Andrew Clark (President of the British Society for Heart Failure) is pictured here (centre) carrying out an echocardiogram in the House of Commons. He was at a BSH event to help raise awareness that a person diagnosed with heart failure is likely to have a worse prognosis than if they were diagnosed with most cancers. This is despite the availability of specialist heart failure services that can have a remarkable impact on a patient’s chance of survival, but for which there is inconsistent access over the UK leading to wide variations in care and outcomes. Over 60 MPs, Peers, and professional and patient groups

Dear Sirs, Research on sex difference in mortality after myocardial infarction (MI) since the 1990s has been debated and increased. Several observational studies have shown that younger women, in particular, seemed to have higher mortality rates than men of similar age during the two-year or longer follow-up, although these studies were mainly from the USA.1-3 Recent American studies have also found that, even after full adjustment for potential risk factors, excess risk for in-hospital mortality for women was still noted, particularly among those <50 years old with acute ST-segment elevation MI, leading to 98% (odds ratio [OR] 1.98, 95% c

Caffeine intake may reduce risk of type 2 diabetes Coffee and caffeine intake may significantly reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes, according to a new meta-analysis published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.  Pertinent studies were identified by a search of PubMed and EMBASE. The fixed- or random-effect pooled measure was selected based on between-study heterogeneity. Dose–response relationship was assessed. Commenting on the implications of this study (doi: 10.1007/s00394-013-0603-x), London general practitioner Dr Sarah Jarvis said: “There is growing evidence to suggest that moderate coffee consumption, that’s four

New editorial board member Dr Ketan Dhatariya We are delighted to welcome Dr Ketan Dhatariya to our editorial board. Dr Dhatariya is a consultant in diabetes, endocrinology and general medicine at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, Norwich. He is also a senior lecturer at the University of East Anglia, and an assistant professor of medicine at St George’s University, Grenada, in the West Indies. He has published on a wide variety of diabetes- and endocrine-related subjects, including diabetes-related foot disease. He serves as meetings secretary for the Association of British Clinical Diabetologists, and medical secretary for the Spec

WOEST: aspirin not required for stent patients on oral anticoagulants  A strategy of using clopidogrel as a single antiplatelet drug for patients receiving a drug-eluting stent who are also taking an oral anticoagulant appears safe and can reduce bleeding, the results of the WOEST study suggest. How to treat patients on anticoagulation when they receive a stent is fraught with difficulty as giving the normal dual antiplatelet therapy with aspirin and clopidogrel means they will be taking three anti-clotting agents which could increase bleeding complications to a dangerous level. But no randomised clinical trials have ever investigated whethe

ACCORD/INVEST: do not aim for normal blood pressure in diabetes patients with CAD The results of two trials comparing intensive versus more conventional blood pressure lowering in patients with diabetes at high cardiovascular risk have suggested that intensive treatment is not necessary and may be harmful in this population. In the ACCORD BP (Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes – Blood Pressure) trial, while intensive blood pressure treatment did reduce the risk of stroke, it failed to reduce the overall risk of cardiovascular events in patients and was associated with an increase in adverse events due to antihypertensive ther