Women with ischemic heart disease often go undiagnosed or receive suboptimal treatment, according to experts from the Sant Pau Institute of Biomedical Research in Barcelona.
Dr. Teresa Padró, head of the Biomarkers of Cardiovascular Disease Evolution group at IR Sant Pau and researcher at the CIBERCV, emphasized that despite advances in cardiology, women continue to face significant disparities in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of ischemic heart disease. This condition, caused by reduced blood flow to the heart tissue, remains the leading cause of cardiovascular death worldwide.
She is the corresponding author of a scientific position paper published in the European Heart Journal by the “Working Group on Coronary Pathophysiology and Microcirculation” and associated societies (ACVC and EAPCI) of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). The document highlights how sex and gender differences decisively influence cardiovascular risk, pathophysiology, and prognosis in ischemic heart disease, and stresses the need to systematically integrate this perspective into clinical practice and research.
“For decades, coronary artery disease has been studied and treated from a fundamentally male-centered perspective, which has contributed to underdiagnosing and providing suboptimal care to many women,” Dr. Padró explained.
Far from being a simple variation of the male model, ischemic heart disease presents unique characteristics in women across the entire disease continuum—from risk factors to clinical outcomes. Classic cardiovascular risk factors such as smoking, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension have a greater relative impact in women than in men.
The findings underscore the importance of recognizing these sex-specific differences to improve early detection and treatment strategies, particularly for young women who may be overlooked due to atypical symptoms or biased clinical assumptions.
