Sushmita Sen, an actress, recently experienced a "very, very big heart attack," and her main artery was 95% blocked. She survived, despite undergoing an angioplasty and having a stent placed in her heart.
The mother of two stated, "Women, a heart attack is not a men-thing" during a recent Instagram live session. Don't be afraid, but keep an eye out for danger.
The heart attack rate among people between the ages of 35 and 54 has increased, particularly among women, according to recent studies like the 2018 Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Surveillance study. This study looked at more than 28,000 hospitalizations for heart attacks.
Due to estrogen and other hormones, women are more protected until menopause than men are. However, the incidence of coronary artery disease (CAD) or heart attack goes up after menopause, according to Dr. Vijay Kumar, Senior Consultant and Interventional Cardiologist at the Ujala Cygnus Group of Hospitals.
Dr. Kumar adds, "Women may also be more susceptible to CVDs due to hypertensive pregnancy disorders and persistent weight gain post-pregnancy due to a variety of physiological changes in the body during pregnancy and hormonal changes during menopause." Women who suffer from acute heart attacks are more likely to die than men.
According to a recent 2020 Indian study that was published in the "American Journal of Preventive Cardiology," annual ischemic heart disease (IHD) mortality increased from 2000 to 2017 by 81.1 percent, with a greater increase in women's mortality of 0.32 to 0.62 million (+93.7%) and a smaller increase in men's mortality of 0.53 to 0.92 million (+73.6%).
In addition, trends from 2000 to 2015 demonstrated that Indian women experienced a greater increase in risk factors than men did. These include obesity, diabetes, smoking, periodontal infections, and the body-mass index.
It's important to pay attention to symptoms like exertional breathlessness and easy fatigue, as obesity and hormonal changes brought on by syndrome X in the perimenopausal stage are two risk factors for heart disease in women.
The most crucial aspect is health screening. Get your blood pressure, diabetes, and other conditions checked. It is past due for each of us to undergo a screening for fundamental factors like pulse, blood pressure, and so forth. which can predict the likelihood of developing heart disease or sudden death from heart disease," advises.
A healthy lifestyle that you live every day is just as important for your heart as regular screenings.
"I know a lot of you will stop going to the gym and say no,'see going to the gym didn't help her,'" Sushmita Sen emphasized during her Instagram livestream. Not ideal. Yet, it helped me. I was able to get through a very, very big heart attack because I kept moving around."
Dr. Dhir recommends "adequate sleep of six to eight hours" and "45 minutes minimum, five times a week" of exercise.