As the world observes World Heart Day on Sunday, there is not much for women to cheer about with a study noting that Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD) are now effecting them at a relatively young age of 35. This is being attributed to the changing lifestyle and increasing stress.
“There is a 10-15 per cent rise in cases among young women in Bangalore,” according to a study by the Indus Health Plus. According to the recently released ‘Abnormality’ report by the IHP, in the southern cities like Bangalore, there is an alarming 10-15 per cent rise in CVD among young women, while women in Hyderabad, are prone to problems caused by lack of estrogen between the ages of 20 - 40.
“In Mumbai, there has been an increase in CVD cases between the age brackets of 24-30 years of which 58 per cent of the total cases were below 40 years of age and 30 per cent were below 30 years. “Whereas, out of 11 per cent coronary heart diseases case in New Delhi 35 per cent of these have been observed in women. 23 per cent of corporate employees in New Delhi are suffering from CVD. Out of 55 per cent, under the age bracket of 20 to 29 years, 15-20 per cent of them are females,” the study said.
“Insufficient exercise, lack of sleep, poor eating habits and stress are the leading contributing factors to CVD. One major challenge is that the symptoms for heart disease are different from men in women. “The common signs are shortness of breath, chest pain, sweating, nausea, dizziness and fatigue, which often gets ignored,” it said. Company’s Joint Managing Director Amol Naikawadi said the report showed that the susceptibility ratio of men to women is 3:2 in younger age group, but after menopause the ratio becomes 1:1.