Changing lifestyles and the resulting stress has resulted in a 15-20 per cent increase in cardiovascular diseases among women in the last five years. This was revealed by ‘Visualising the Extent of Heart Disease in Indian Women (VEDNA)’ in the survey conducted to map trends of CVD among Indian women.
The pan-India survey was conducted by Heal Foundation on 577 doctors across 51 cities in the country, including Bangalore, Tumkur, Mysore, Dharwad, Belgaum and Gulbarga.
Interviews of respondents from metro and non-metro cities revealed that 63 per cent of doctors found an increase of 10-15 per cent in cardio-vascular diseases among women of all age groups in the last five years. Forty-one per cent of the doctors claimed a 5-10 per cent rise in CVD among women in the age of 20 to 40 years. This age group was earlier considered safe from heart diseases.
“Changing lifestyles are causing negative hormonal changes. This is affecting the protection given by oestrogen hormone and exposing even the menstruating population to CVD,” said Dr C N Manjunath, Director of Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research, Bangalore.
According to him, women are negligent about getting themselves medically examined. Instead, they concentrate more on the good health and well-being of their family members. “About 66 per cent of doctors believed that women do not go for a follow-up treatment,” he said.
Eighty three percent of the doctors who participated in the survey felt that women are not conscious of their heart disease risk. Seventy six per cent believed that late presentation of the patient is the top reason for death among women due to CVD.