Cardiovascular disease accounts for a third of all deaths in women worldwide. By 2020, coronary heart disease will have increased by 120% among women from levels in 1990.

The perception that heart disease and its burden affect only over weight, middle-aged men in the affluent Western world, no longer holds true. Cardiovascular disease is the single biggest killer of women.

All the risk factors that lead to heart attacks and stroke in men – poor diet, physical inactivity, smoking – also cause cardiovascular disease in women. But heart disease is different in women, clinically and symptomatically.

For example, in women affected by coronary artery disease it is usually the smaller blood vessels that show damage, the disease is more diffuse, and there tends to be fewer arterial blockages. But women have a similar or worse prognosis than men with the disease.

Symptoms differ between the sexes too: in women the crushing chest pain typically associated with a heart attack is often absent. Women experiencing a stroke may have, in addition to the typical one-sided symptoms, hiccups, pain in the limbs, and a pounding, racing heart.

Failure to appreciate these differences can cause problems. Traditional diagnostic tests for coronary artery disease have been developed and tested in men. This can lead to women being given the all clear when they actually do have disease because the tests can’t pick it up.

Philips understands that heart disease can manifest differently in women than in men. That’s why our products use software that recognizes different ways disease manifests itself in women and men. In fact, our diagnostic tools taken into account age and gender since the 1970s. We’re the first company providing clinicians with solutions that comply with the American College of Cardiology Foundation’s recommendations for gender, age and lead-specific criteria to detect heart attacks in women and men.

Because we’re a leader in cardiology we recognize there is more to be done. We continue to work closely with leading healthcare organizations, patients and clinicians to better understand heart disease in women and provide solutions to improve early detection.