Womens' hearts...

... are sensitive and don't deserve all the hurt they get, though they can sure withstand it.

Okay, that's not it. The joiner to that (from my present perspective anyway) is that they are discriminated against. When it comes to heart problems, the most significant one being acute coronary syndrome (a constellation of conditions ranging from unstable angina to MI aka heart attack), women are underdiagnosed and undertreated no matter how severe their disease is.

A specialised journal for cardiology, Circulation (it figures) recently highlighted these disparities in the cardiology discipline in a special section. In the male-dominated cardiology world, the women are now being recognised as a different set of patients than men through the various studies and analyses, some mentioned in the write-up.

However, there is still much to do to change the way women are being treated in cardiac clinics the world over, and to ascertain how exactly women differ from men in their presentation and response to treatment. Another important facet that needs to be covered is the implications of pregnancy (unique to women) on their heart disease and how differently in terms of investigative and invasive procedures as well as medication and possible adverse effects.

Locally, there hasn't been much insight into this. However, a set of data from a small group of unstable angina/non ST-elevation MI patients in Sarawak General Hospital is being analysed, and if all goes well, this report will be submitted to the National Heart Association Meeting Malaysia 2006. Watch this space for more!

By the way, there's actually a name for this discrimination! Yentl's syndrome is the phenomenon that women are treated less optimal in the management of coronary heart disease than men. Named after the heroine of Isaac Bashevis Singer's short story, Yentl had to disguise herself as a man to attend school and study the Talmud at an all-male Jewish school in 19th century Poland.