NMC Health : Younger Indian women too at risk of heart attacks

'Strokes and hearts attacks among women [from the subcontinent] under 40 are very rare, except for patients with diabetes and blood pressure,' said Dr Dinesh Babu, Consultant of Cardio-vascular disease at Medeor Hospital in Abu Dhabi. However, such cases have started emerging in recent years among working women owing to stress and unhealthy lifestyles.

Dr Paul S Thoppil, Interventional Cardiologist at NMC Hospital in Abu Dhabi, said that such cases among females [from the subcontinent] are increasing. 'The ratio is 4:1 which means for every four male cases, there is a female case,' he said.

The protective effect of estrogen against heart attacks before menopuase is common to all women, but the increasing stress and unhealthy lifestyles, along with genetic factors, can trigger diabetes, blood pressure and obesity in younger women leading to stroke- and heart attacks.

The incidences of diabetes, hypertension and cholesterol are on the rise in Indian working women under 40, Dr Thoppil said.

His youngest patient is a 29-year-old Indian working woman who had a heart attack after delivering her baby. 'We don't see such cases post-delivery. This was out of the blue.' The woman who underwent an angioplasty had a family history - her father had died of a heart attack

Another 40-year old Indian working woman survived a major heart attack. Though she was thin and healthy, she too had a family history. Her mother had a heart attack at the age of 45, Dr Thoppil said.

Working women from the subcontinent have to take precautions, Dr Thoppil said. They should avoid stress and lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, blood pressure and obesity.

Preventive cardiac check-ups at an early age are also recommended, Dr Thoppil said.

Any studies that throw more light on this trend, he said, would be highly revealing. 'We need demographic studies in this region (on this issue).'