Peripheral vascular disease (PVD) is a health condition that affects blood vessels outside the heart. It can cause serious problems, such as pain, limited movement, and increased risk of stroke or heart attack.
But experts say women with this disease are often overlooked, leading to delays in diagnosis and less effective treatment.
A new scientific statement from the American Heart Association, published in the journal Circulation, points out these problems and urges researchers and doctors to take action.
Dr. Esther Kim, a professor at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, explained that while people now know more about how heart disease affects women, vascular diseases like PVD have not received the same attention.
Understanding how PVD affects women is important because it can help improve their care and quality of life.
There are several types of PVD, and many of them affect women differently than men.
Peripheral artery disease (PAD) blocks blood flow to the limbs and affects both men and women, but women often have fewer clear symptoms. This makes it harder to diagnose.
Women may also have more trouble walking and are less likely to get helpful treatments like supervised exercise programs. Black women are especially at risk—they are more likely to have PAD than white women but are less likely to receive proper care.
Aortic disease, which affects the body’s largest artery, is usually diagnosed later in women. Estrogen protects women to some extent, but when problems do occur, they are often more dangerous.
Women are more likely to suffer a rupture at the same aneurysm size as men. Even with treatment, women face more complications, especially after less invasive surgeries.
Some disorders, like fibromuscular dysplasia, are much more common in women, while others, like aneurysms behind the knee, are more common in men. Knowing these differences helps doctors treat patients better.
Women also have different risks for stroke. Pregnancy-related high blood pressure and changes after menopause can raise stroke risk. Even though women may develop smaller artery plaques, they still face high stroke risk and need different prevention strategies.
In addition, women are more likely to suffer from poor blood flow in the intestines, a condition called chronic mesenteric ischemia. Studies also suggest that Black adults with narrowed kidney arteries tend to have more serious high blood pressure.
Certain autoimmune diseases that cause blood vessel inflammation, like Takayasu arteritis and giant cell arteritis, are more common in women. These diseases are serious and often harder for women to manage.
Because women may show different or milder symptoms, doctors sometimes miss or delay the diagnosis. This can lead to worse health outcomes. Women are also less likely to get treatments that follow official guidelines and may not get the same access to care as men.
Dr. Kim stressed that we need more awareness, research, and improved screening and treatment options for women. Experts suggest a few steps to make things better: include more women in research, update screening methods to fit women’s symptoms, train doctors to notice these differences, and make sure women get equal access to good treatments.
This new report highlights an important issue: women with PVD often receive less care than men. Fixing this gap can help more women live healthier lives.
If you care about heart health, please read studies about how eating eggs can help reduce heart disease risk, and herbal supplements could harm your heart rhythm.
For more health information, please see recent studies about how drinking milk affects risks of heart disease and cancer, and results showing strawberries could help prevent Alzheimer’s disease.
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