Heart Health Isn't Just a Men's Thing. Here's Why It Matters for You.

The myth that needs busting

Right now, 3.6 million women in the UK are living with cardiovascular disease. And yet, women are consistently under-diagnosed and under-treated for it.

So why are women being missed?

It comes down to a few things. Firstly, women often present with different symptoms than the textbook "chest pain" we're all taught to look for.

Fatigue, nausea, sleep disturbance, jaw pain.

These can all be signs of a heart problem in women, but they're so easily dismissed as stress, anxiety, or "just how menopause feels." Sound familiar? We know it does.

Secondly, women were historically underrepresented in clinical trials for heart disease. The research that shaped how doctors recognise and treat cardiovascular conditions was largely done on men. That gap is only now starting to close, and it's left a generation of women falling through the cracks. Women with established cardiovascular disease are less likely than men to have their cholesterol levels properly managed, and fewer women receive prescriptions for essential medications like statins.

The missing oestrogen link

Here's where it gets really relevant for a lot of us. Oestrogen isn't just a reproductive hormone. It actively protects your heart. It helps keep your cholesterol in check, keeps your blood vessels flexible, and reduces inflammation. When oestrogen levels drop during menopause, all of that protection starts to fade.

Cholesterol levels creep up. Blood pressure increases. Weight shifts towards the middle. And metabolic syndrome (a cluster of risk factors including abdominal fat, high triglycerides, and high blood sugar) becomes significantly more common.

The BHF is clear on this: if you're going through menopause, your heart health deserves attention. Not eventually. Now.

Women's health conditions that affect your heart

PCOS and your heart: the link nobody mentions

If you have PCOS, this matters. Women with polycystic ovary syndrome have a 51% increased risk of cardiovascular disease compared to women without it. That risk starts diverging as early as age 35.

PCOS affects between 5% and 10% of women of reproductive age. That's millions of women globally. And it isn't just about irregular periods or fertility struggles. It's a systemic condition involving insulin resistance, chronic inflammation, and hormonal imbalances that quietly damage your cardiovascular system over time.

The numbers are stark. Women with PCOS have significantly higher levels of LDL cholesterol (the "bad" kind), higher triglycerides, and lower HDL cholesterol (the "good" kind). Female smokers with PCOS face a 25% greater risk of developing coronary heart disease than male smokers.

The good news? Even modest weight loss of 5% to 10% of body weight can improve insulin sensitivity and restore regular menstrual cycles in women with PCOS. Lifestyle changes genuinely help. But you need to know this connection exists first, and far too many women with PCOS are never told.

Endometriosis and the inflammation it brings

Endometriosis is often dismissed as "just bad cramps." But it's actually a chronic inflammatory condition affecting approximately 10% of women of reproductive age. And that inflammation doesn't stay contained to your pelvis.

The risk is highest for women under 40, which is exactly the age group that gets their symptoms dismissed most often. The cumulative risk curves for cardiovascular events in women with endometriosis versus those without begin to diverge as early as age 35.

Why does endometriosis affect the heart? Chronic inflammation damages blood vessels over time. The surgical treatments many women undergo (hysterectomy or oophorectomy) can cause abrupt drops in oestrogen, which removes the heart's natural protection. Research suggests that about 42% of the association between coronary artery disease and endometriosis could be explained by the higher rates of these surgeries and the younger age at which they occur.

Pregnancy complications and long-term heart risk

Had preeclampsia or gestational diabetes during pregnancy?

Here's something your postnatal care probably didn't mention: both significantly increase your long-term cardiovascular risk.

Preeclampsia (high blood pressure during pregnancy) is associated with a 2.7 times higher risk of heart disease later in life. Women with a history of preeclampsia face approximately double the risk of developing coronary heart disease and stroke. Gestational diabetes increases cardiovascular risk by 68% and raises your risk of developing type 2 diabetes after pregnancy by 7 to 10-fold.

That means there's a window, often spanning years, where monitoring and intervention could make a real difference. But most women aren't told. They're discharged from postnatal care, and these complications are treated as "pregnancy problems" that ended when the pregnancy did. They didn't. Your body remembers. And you deserve follow-up.

The American Heart Association has recognised gestational hypertension and preeclampsia as risk-enhancing factors for cardiovascular disease since 2011. Yet awareness and screening remain woefully inadequate.

Why we're talking about this

At TribElle, everything we do comes back to one thing: women deserve healthcare that actually listens. We were founded because too many of us have been dismissed, misdiagnosed, or told our symptoms were "just stress." Heart health is no different.

This Heart Month, we're proud to support the British Heart Foundation's awareness efforts. Whether you take on a walking challenge, learn CPR with their free RevivR tool, or simply start a conversation with your GP about your heart health, every step counts.