One in four women dies of heart attacks, strokes in Malaysia

Borneo Post KUCHING: One in four women dies of heart attacks and strokes in the country and the trend has remained unchanged for the last 10 years, and more women die from heart attacks than strokes, revealed Datuk Anne Teng from the Board of Trustees of Sarawak Heart Foundation yesterday.
She said deaths due to heart attacks and strokes were almost two and a half times more common than deaths due to all cancers combined.
Women who were overweight, middle aged and had just gone through menopause had higher risk of heart attack, she pointed out, while adding adopting a healthy lifestyle could help prevent the attack.
“By adopting a healthy lifestyle such as eating a balanced diet with low cholesterol and sugar, and with regular exercise, can help keep our heart healthy,” she said when launching the ‘Women’s Health Awareness and Screening Programme’ held by Women’s Heart Health Organisation and Sarawak Heart Foundation, at the Boulevard Shopping Mall here yesterday.
She said the programme aimed to increase awareness of the public and health care providers about the prevalence and presence of heart diseases and stroke in women, to develop a preventive strategy against heart attacks and strokes in women, as well as to provide continuous medical education to health care providers and to the public.
The health screening comprised of body mass index, blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol tests.
Leading cardiologist Professor Dr Sim Hui Kian who was also present at the programme said the cause of the highest number of deaths among women in the nation is heart disease, and they happened mostly in elderly women and those who had just gone through menopause.
However, a lot of women did not realise the fact because the symptoms and signs were not as classical as men.
“Most people believe that the most common cause of deaths among women is cancer. In facts, heart attacks recorded
the highest number. It is a matter of how many people are aware of this cause,” he said when met by The Borneo Post.
Dr Sim, who is also Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) secretary general, said risk factors of coronary heart disease were cigarette smoke, high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, diabetes mellitus, obesity, and lack of exercise.
Women typically show different symptoms of heart attack than men do. The most common symptom, however, in both women and men is some sort of pain or pressure in the chest.
“In women, the chest pain is usually not as intense as it is in men. They usually complain of discomfort and pressure in the chest. Women with typical chest pain are fewer compared to men which is why these symptoms may be ignored
when they go for check-up because of lack of awareness,” he said.
He advised women who are more than 55 years old, who had just experienced menopause, who is a diabetic
or have family history of diabetes to go for medical check-up as a preventive measure.