Caring for each other, and for women's hearts: a look back at 2024
At the end of 2024, we look back at an important development in healthcare this year: there is more and more focus on the female heart.
Published on December 27, 2024
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Everything new is wildly interesting! That's the motto of our DATA+ expert, Elcke Vels. She writes stories about AI and how it affects our society, has a series on cyber security, and interviews Dutch innovation maestros. In her “What if...” column, she also explores intriguing scenarios that deviate from the status quo.
The holidays remind us once again that being together is essential. We believe that everyone deserves a place at the table at Christmas dinner and that no one should be alone on New Year's Eve.
In healthcare, too, we must ensure that everyone counts. Everyone deserves the treatment or medication he or she needs. That's a fine aspiration, but we're not there yet. Let's pay some attention to a patient group that needs it: women with cardiovascular disease.
We have arrived at the end of 2024, and I want to look back at an important development in healthcare this year: there is an increasing focus on the female heart. Spoiler alert: significant strides have been made within the Netherlands and abroad.
The numbers
But before we discuss the positive developments, let's look at some numbers. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death among women, with more than 7.5 million deaths worldwide in 2019. Despite these alarming figures, only a third of all cardiovascular research has been conducted in women. This leads to a worrying situation where women are systematically underrepresented in clinical trials, resulting in treatment guidelines based primarily on research in men.
Unique symptoms and risk factors
Women also have entirely different symptoms and risk factors than men when it comes to cardiovascular disease. Instead of the classic oppressive chest pain, women more often report atypical symptoms such as a feeling of weakness or pain in the neck. These symptoms are frequently overlooked or misinterpreted. In addition, women have unique risk factors such as hormonal changes during menopause and pregnancy-related complications.
Leaps forward in the Netherlands: machine learning
Gender thus plays an important role in the assessment and development of cardiovascular disease. Reason enough to do more research on this. In the Netherlands, at least, there was plenty of that in 2024. We wrote about it earlier this year; this year the Heart Foundation awarded €3 million to eight leading researchers for innovative cardiovascular research. That's great in itself. But, a key project within this is Dr. Sophie Bots' research into gender-specific effects of heart failure medication. This is crucial because women are twice as likely to suffer serious side effects from these medications.
Dutch Heart Foundation awards €3 million for cardiovascular research
The Dutch Heart Foundation granted over €3 million in grants to eight leading researchers supporting innovative studies on cardiovascular diseases.
Dutch researchers also joined forces with colleagues from the United States. Together, they developed machine learning models that improve diagnosis in women. These models, based on data from more than 20,000 individuals, show that women are underdiagnosed for certain heart conditions twice as often as men. The results were published earlier this year in Frontiers in Physiology. A great milestone!
Abroad: an AI chatbot
Interesting developments have also taken place abroad. AI chatbots, such as the HeartBot program from the US, offer an innovative way to improve women's health knowledge, especially about heart disease. A pilot study with the HeartBot chatbot found that its use significantly improved knowledge about heart disease. The program is a fully automated, text-driven conversation partner available 24/7 to educate women about the symptoms and risks of heart attacks. The AI chatbot provides an accessible, approachable way for women to obtain health information without visiting a doctor.
No longer invisible
In short, innovations from 2024, both within the Netherlands and abroad, are making a big difference for women in the medical world. The focus in the coming years should be on, among other things, involving more women in clinical research and developing specific treatment guidelines for women. This way, we will ensure that the female heart is no longer overlooked in cardiovascular care.