“A lot of people don’t realise women’s symptoms are frequently different from and more subtle than men’s, which leads to the disease being misdiagnosed. Our first signs of a heart attack may include nausea, backaches, extreme fatigue, or shortness of breath rather than the Hollywood version of crushing chest pain, which is more common in men,” she says.
In a bid to change these preconceived ideas, Streisand has launched a number of campaigns to encourage women to regularly get their hearts checked, especially if they are experiencing symptoms and become “proactive” about their risk.
One campaign run by The Women’s Heart Alliance labelled heart disease as the “lady killer,” whilst another campaign, which ran last year, encouraged particularly younger women and women of colour to know the signs of heart disease.
The British Heart Foundation has also commented on the “gender gap” when it comes to heart health in the UK. Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, Associate Medical Director, British Heart Foundation said: “Decades of research have transformed the likely outcome for someone suffering a heart attack. Yet if you are a woman, the odds are stacked differently.”
