Women are less likely than men to realise they have heart disease

Women are less likely than men to notice the symptoms of heart disease because they do not realise they are at risk, research has found.

While many are prudent about checking their breasts, a lack of awareness means they neglect their cholesterol and their blood pressure.

The study, carried out by the Paris Cardiovascular Research Centre, also found that women are more likely to die following heart attack treatment than men. 

Experts said this could be down to the fact that women tend to be older when they suffer heart attacks, and are also more likely to be diabetic. 

Women are also less likely to have an angioplasty - a procedure to widen blocked or narrowed coronary arteries to get the blood back flowing to the heart - although it was suggested this could be down to the 'wrong attitude of physicians'.

The research, which is being presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in London, saw a team analyse data relating to 11,420 people in the Greater Paris area who suffered cardiac arrest while not in hospital.

The pre-hospital survival rate for women was 18 per cent compared to 26 per cent of men, while angioplasty was performed on 26 per cent of women but 36 per cent of men.

Professor Carlo Di Mario, team leader for Complex Coronary Heart Disease at the National Institute of Health Research, Cardiovascular Biomedical Research unit at the Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust in London, said: 'When they have a heart attack, women are usually older and tend to be diabetic more often, both of which are important factors that increase mortality risk.

'These are obviously pre-existing conditions that cannot be changed even with better treatment.

'These factors are, however, unlikely to be the only reason for their higher mortality.

'The medical community must still decide how much of this gender imbalance in angioplasty treatment is due to inherent characteristics within the female population or to the wrong attitude of physicians.'

Heart attacks are mainly triggered by coronary heart disease (CHD), which kills around 73,000 people in the UK every year and is the leading cause of death in both sexes.

CHD generally affects more men than women, although from the age of 50 the chances of developing the condition are similar for both.

Around 850,000 British women are living with the condition but many are unaware they have it.

Professor Di Mario said lack of awareness about the disease needed to be acted upon, with men more likely to pick up on symptoms, the most common being angina (chest pain).

He added: 'A 45-year-old healthy woman checks her breasts when she showers but may have never checked her cholesterol or measured her blood pressure because she will not think she is at risk of a heart attack.' 

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