HYDERABAD: With tobacco chewing rampant in both rural and urban areas of Andhra Pradesh, women are becoming highly susceptible to heart ailments, experts say.
While women in general are at a higher risk than men of developing heart diseases in India, high consumption of tobacco (brushing teeth with tobacco in rural areas and chewing it) by women may be an added predisposing factor, they say.
Contrary to what is common believed, women in India are at a higher risk of heart disease than men.
As in western countries, an increasing number of younger women in the age group 30-45 years are being affected by heart diseases leading to heart attacks, strokes and arterial diseases.
Heart diseases account for over 50 per cent of the total deaths due to disease in the country. The risk factors of diabetes, high blood pressure and consumption of tobacco have remained almost equal.
“Urbanisation, consumption of packaged food, high intake of salt, high weight which makes one susceptible to high blood pressure and diabetes has increased manifold in India. Also smoking and reduced levels of physical activity have led to heart disease being the biggest killer amongst all diseases in the country,” pointed out Dr S Padmavathi, director of the National Heart Institute, New Delhi, speaking at a conference on ‘Women and Heart Diseases’ held at Care Hospital today.
Women who have suffered a heart attack have more chances of heart failure. “Tobacco chewing in its various forms (zarda, gutka and brushing with tobacco) is common among women in Andhra Pradesh.”
‘‘Although it is under-recognised in our state, it is a serious menace. Pregnancy pills, work stress including other factors are resulting in more and more younger women prone to the heat disease,” said Dr K Sharada, consultant cardiologist and electrophysiology, Care Hospitals.
“We find heart diseases affecting younger women and causing more severe heart attacks, heart failure and deaths than in men (double in women). Also women give less attention to their own health needs which results in late medical intervention,” pointed out prof. P Krishnam Raju, Consultant Cardiologist, Care Hospitals.
