Simone von Polheim sits at her living room table in Remscheid and browses through holiday photos from Italy. Pictures of sun, mountains, excursions. They are memories of vacations that almost ended in death. "I thought I wouldn't survive this. I noticed how my circulation was dropping and I was getting back pain like I'd never experienced before," she remembers.
She suffered a heart attack in the middle of her vacation, but no one recognized it. At the hospital, her symptoms were initially not recognized as a heart problem. "I couldn't stand the pain. They didn't take my blood pressure, they didn't do anything. They laid me out in the hallway," she says.
"I could have died then"
The medical team at the hospital believed it was a sore muscle, the result of a canyoning tour. "I couldn't get up either. That seemed strange to me. I then asked if we could do an EKG. But they said: That wasn't necessary."
Only back in Germany was the correct diagnosis made: heart attack. In a catheter treatment, several stents are inserted. One realization in particular weighs on her to this day: "The worst thing is the thought, looking back, that I could have died back then. That haunted me for a very long time."
Women often show other symptoms
At the Women's Heart Center at the Rhein-Maas Clinic in Würselen near Aachen, chief physician Michael Becker deals with cases like this every day. Germany's first specialized center for women's cardiology was established there eight years ago. "We still have a long way to go. We founded the first women's heart center in Germany here with great resistance. This resistance is slowly reducing," says Becker.
Women who have heart attacks often show different symptoms than men. Instead of classic chest pain, many patients experience nausea, upper abdominal discomfort, back or jaw pain, shortness of breath or severe exhaustion. This can lead to heart attacks being detected later or not at all. “You have to know what to pay attention to,” says Becker.
“We need a rethink in society”
He observes that both patients and medical staff still too often underestimate these warning signals. Christine Hesse is with him at the clinic for follow-up care. The 52-year-old was sent from doctor to doctor for years. Her pain was dismissed on the grounds that she was too sensitive. “The cardiologist told me more and more and more intensely: I was nervous and stressed,” she says. "The symptoms didn't stop and got worse and worse. This story is also very painful looking back. And today I also know that it was life-threatening."
In the end she was operated on by Michael Becker in Würselen. "Six months later I would have had a heart attack. You should always insist on treatment and not let yourself be unsettled," says Hesse.
According to cardiologist Becker, women must take complaints seriously and seek medical help at an early stage. At the same time, the health system needs to be more sensitive to gender-specific differences. "We need a rethink in society. We need support in politics. Something has to change in teaching. Young colleagues have to learn early on in their studies that women should be treated differently than men," says Becker.
Alliance creates Alliance for Women's Health
Against this background, the Alliance for Women's Health was founded in Berlin. The cross-sector alliance wants to bring together scientific findings, medical societies, care facilities and other actors. The aim is to develop key points for a national women's health strategy. Gender-specific differences in research, prevention and care should be given greater consideration.
“In Germany there is already a lot of knowledge, strong initiatives and people who have been promoting women’s health for years,” says co-initiator Cornelia Wanke. "With the alliance we want to combine these forces. Women's health is not a niche issue, but a central question of sustainable and fair health care."
The alliance names specific areas of action: women's health should be permanently anchored on the political agenda, gender-sensitive research should be strengthened and existing gaps in care should be closed across all phases of life. In addition, women's health literacy and self-efficacy should be promoted.
Germany is still at the beginning of development
From the point of view of chief physician Becker, what is needed above all is more knowledge about gender-specific differences in medicine. This not only applies to cardiovascular diseases, but also to numerous other diseases and therapies. "Every organ is different for men and women. We have to see women as women, perceive them as women and initiate appropriate diagnostics and therapies. Completely gender-specific and individual," says Becker.
New research networks, teaching offerings and specialized centers are now emerging across the country. But many experts see Germany as still at the beginning of its development when compared internationally.
For Simone von Polheim, this debate comes late. Her heart attack is now behind her, she does sports and enjoys walking her dog. But she hasn't forgotten the experience. "Fortunately, it turned out well for me. I have a case in my circle of friends. A woman died. She was treated for gallstones, even though it was a posterior wall infarction." She would like to see more conversation about women's health. Because the differences can sometimes cost lives.
