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November 28, 2018 07:57
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Updated on November 28, 2018 08:10
It is a rare disease that causes a heart attack and often affects young women: spontaneous dissection of the coronary artery (CAD).
It occurs when a tear forms in one of the heart's blood vessels, which can block blood flow, causing a heart attack, abnormal heart rhythm or sudden death.
Doctors often advise women who survive one of these events to not have children because of the risk that this will happen again.
Hayley Martin, 47, remembers very well the morning when her life changed forever.
"I woke up very, very badly, I put my hands on my head and I was sweaty, I immediately knew that I had a heart attack", she told Victoria Derbyshire of the BBC.
The DEAC occurs when a tear forms in one of the heart's blood vessels, which can block blood flow, causing a heart attack, abnormal heart rhythm or sudden death. THINK
Hayley was 38 years old and was in good health when she underwent a spontaneous dissection of the coronary arteries.
Until then, the disorder had gone unnoticed and he had never been diagnosed.
But DEAC is the leading cause of heart attacks in women of reproductive age, aged 30 to 50 years.
And this often happens without a history of heart disease or risk factors.
Upon arrival at the hospital, Hayley, who lives in Cheshire, England, feared the worst.
"I remember what I said (to the doctors):" Am I dying? "And they just repeated," We try to do everything we can but nothing works, "he says.
"Devalued woman"
Hayley survived, but like many women with DEAC, she was told not to get pregnant because of the risk of another heart attack.
"It's another thing that stole me, I prefer not to think about it because it brings me into sadness," he says.
"I felt devalued as a person, as a woman, in failure, as if it was my fault."
What is Spontaneous Coronary Dissection (DEAC)?
- DEAC is an often undiagnosed cardiac disorder.
- It mainly affects women, sometimes during or shortly after pregnancy.
- Menopause, extreme stress and exercise are also associated with this.
- During a heart attack, a tear or scar suddenly occurs in one of the coronary arteries and blocks the blood circulation.
- It can cause death, heart failure, cardiac arrest and force the patient to undergo cardiac bypass.
Source: Biomedical Cardiovascular Research Unit, Leicester, England
However, a clinic at London's Chelsea and Westminster hospitals is helping women with DEAC get pregnant and have a baby.
It is the first clinic of its kind in the world led by cardiologist Abi Al Hussaini.
Dr. Al-Hussaini is trying to make sure that women make an informed decision about the opportunity to have a baby | BBC
Dr. Al-Hussaini analyzes the cardiac damage caused by DEAC and examines the patient's medication, usually reducing the amount needed.
With this information, she tells the patient how dangerous her pregnancy can be.
The intention, he says, is that the patient makes an informed decision about whether to get pregnant or not.
If she decides to continue, the patient is referred to the "High Risk Pregnancy Team" of the hospital, which will follow her throughout the pregnancy.
"I have seen many patients in recent years who were unhappy because they had been told that they could not have children," says the cardiologist.
"That's one of the reasons I created the clinic, to give these patients the right advice and enable them to make an informed decision."
Sharp pain
Julie Murphy, 40, is one of the first women to have helped the clinic.
Julie Murphy and Holly play with Bella, born in April | BBC
Shortly before her honeymoon in 2013, Julie started to feel bad, as if she had the flu. During the holidays in Kenya, the symptoms worsened.
One day, while swimming, he felt a sharp pain in his chest. Upon his return home, he underwent heart tests and "the next day he discovered that he had had a heart attack".
The days and weeks that followed were very difficult.
"All the drugs that they gave me really weakened and I could not even go up the stairs when I got back from the hospital, it was really hard to understand what was going on." passed, "he says.
Like Hayley, Julie learned that she could not have children. But then he started to participate in a research project of Dr. Al-Hussaini and his first daughter, Holly, was born in 2015.
She later became the first patient in the clinic to be pregnant for the second time. And his second daughter, Bella, was born in April.
Despite the hope she gives to her patients, Dr. Al-Hussaini says she has encountered resistance from some doctors around the world regarding how to counsel patients.
"In the United States, they oppose pregnancy after a heart attack or spontaneous dissection of the coronary artery," he says.
"But I think it's because there has not been a lot of research, but there are more and more studies going on."
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