Treatment of Cardiovascular Disease in Women - Dissertation Example

Despite these significant figures, however, the issue of heart disease among women is often underestimated especially due to the view of women not being susceptible to ischaemic heart disease. What is not actually understood is that women approaching fertile age have lower risks for heart diseases, however, as they reach menopausal age, they are as vulnerable to heart diseases as the rest of the population. They, therefore, become at risk also for untreated issues including myocardial infarction, heart failure, as well as sudden cardiac death (Stramba-Badiale, et.al., 2006). Moreover, the symptoms relating to ischaemic heart diseases for women may be different from the usually observed symptoms for men and at times may cause the under-diagnosis of the disease.

In the UK, cardiovascular disease is a major health problem and it is actually the leading cause of death in the country as well as the world (NHS, 2013). About 1.6 million men and one million women have chronic heart disease in the UK. CVDs have also been the cause of yearly deaths numbering 88,000 individuals in the UK, or about 224 people daily, or one person dying from CVD every 6 minutes. The majority of deaths from heart disease are attributed to heart attacks. On a yearly basis, the UK has about 124,000 heart attacks in a year (NHS, 2013).

About 152,000 strokes have been reported in the UK on an annual basis, and have been responsible for more than 43,000 yearly deaths (NHS, 2013). The NHS (2013) has also discovered that about one in five men and one in eight women often die from coronary heart diseases. CHD affects more men as compared to women, however, starting at the age of 50, the possibility of developing CHD is more or less similar for both genders. The European Society of Cardiology launched the Women at heart program in order to evaluate research initiatives on cardiovascular diseases for women.

A Policy Conference on Cardiovascular Diseases was an initial program developed for this program (Stramba-Badiale, et.al., 2006). Its goal was to gather opinions from experts from member countries in order to evaluate European conditions in terms of cardiovascular disease management, to determine gaps in the management of cardiovascular diseases among women, and security strategies in order to manage such gaps. Cardiovascular diseases are the number one cause of death for men and women. Where the various elements of cardiovascular diseases are gathered, coronary heart disease represents about 21% of male deaths, with higher rates for women at 23% and stroke is a higher risk for death among women as compared to men (World Heart Federation Organization, 2012). As a result, stroke is also considered the most common cause of death for men, and the second leading cause of death for women. With advancing age, the risk for deaths relating to cardiovascular diseases often increases. Moreover, with higher life expectancy, the number of women suffering from cardiovascular diseases also increases.