Click here for Mobile Site: http://m.cbs4denver.com
  • Font Size    
Advertising
E-mail

Close Window E-mail This Page

Heart Disease Labels Could Vary Between Gender

Required fields are marked with an asterisk(*)

The information you provide will be used only to send the requested e-mail and will not be used to send any other e-mail communications. Read more in our Privacy Policy

Send E-mail

   Print     Share +    Comments
Oct 12, 2009 7:24 pm US/Mountain

Heart Disease Labels Could Vary Between Gender

Reporting
Dr. Dave Hnida
DENVER (CBS4) ― There are big differences between men and women when it comes to heart problems. The differences are so dramatic doctors might change what heart disease is called depending on the patient's gender.

"We are learning what's going on inside the heart is hugely different between men and women," CBS4 Medical Editor Dr. Dave Hnida said. "We talk quite a bit how symptoms of a heart attack tend to be very different between men and women. Now we are finally figuring out why a female feels one way and a man another. It's all what's happening inside."

Heart patient Charlotte Bornstein helps people feel good on the outside, but for her, feeling good on the inside had become a struggle.

"At no point ever in my life did anyone ever tell me I would have a heart attack," Bornstein said.

Bornstein had none of the typical risks for heart disease -- no family history, even her cholesterol was normal. So when she had a heart attack, Bornstein turned to specialists studying the differences between men and women with cardiac problems -- specialists who now want to officially change the name depending on gender.

"If you can name something, then you feel like you can see it," said Dr. C. Noel Bairey Merz with Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute. "If you think you can see it, then maybe you can do something about it."

Men typically get blockages in the large major blood vessels of the heart -- that's what triggers a heart attack.

"Almost half of women don't have that problem. They actually have problems in the smaller arteries that you cannot see on the traditional angiogram," Merz said.

For men, most heart problems will be labeled "coronary artery disease," signifying it's the large major vessels that get clogged. For women, the new name is "ischemic heart disease," since it's the smaller almost microscopic vessels near the edges of the heart that become diseased.

But the change isn't in name only. It also signals a new approach and new ways of treatment.

"Experts say traditional angiograms in women may not be as effective as we once thought," Hnida said. "Instead if we suspect a heart problem, we may need to rely more on special stress tests and scans … this may explain why women don't always get that crushing chest pain."

(© MMIX CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Curious & Controversial News

Add Comment

here. here. Need a log in? Register here
  •  * Will not be displayed with comment
  •  * e.g. (http://www.mywebsite.com)
  •  
  • Click here to refresh with new letters

Show Comments (0)

Close Window Login


Close Window Flag Comment


loading...
You need the latest Flash player to view video content.
Click here to download.

Click here to bypass this detection if you already have the latest Flash Player.

Health

Top News Stories

© MMX, CBS Television Stations Inc. All Rights Reserved.