Heart Disease Is the #1 Killer of Women. These 5 Innovative Companies Are Working to Change That
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Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in men and women in the United States, killing more than 700,000 people a year. And while men are more likely to develop CVD earlier in life, the disease can develop and present itself in dramatically different ways between men and women.
Some studies have shown that women are more likely than men to ignore warning signs of a heart attack. Women may even be less likely to receive bystander CPR because rescuers fear accusations of inappropriate touching, and one study found that women who complained of symptoms that were consistent with heart disease, were twice as likely to be diagnosed with a mental illness compared to men who complained of having the same symptoms.
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“Women, historically, were not aware that their risk of heart disease was just as high as a man’s, especially after menopause,” said Briana Costello, M.D. Interventional and General Cardiologist, The Texas Heart Institute. “Awareness has improved this disparity and ongoing education about cardiac risk will hopefully continue to improve outcomes in women.”
Cardiovascular disease can refer to a number of conditions that can include heart disease, heart attack, stroke, heart failure, arrhythmia, or an irregular heart beat. Treatments like cardiac medications, pacemakers, and even surgeries have all been developed to help treat and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, but there are still factors that might increase a woman’s chance of CVD.
Dr. Costello says that age, family history, and uncontrolled modifiable risk factors such as high blood pressure and cholesterol, and even a history of preeclampsia, eclampsia, or gestational diabetes in pregnancy can over time lead to CVD.
And while the development of diagnostic testing and therapies have helped reduce the number of CVD deaths, 80 percent of premature heart disease and strokes are preventable, leaving room for innovation and technology to make an impact. That’s where companies in the cardiovascular space have taken a front seat and begun developing and creating technology to test, prevent, and treat CVD. Here are five we love.
Bloomer Tech Creates Digital Biomarkers for Women’s Heart Health
Using biometric sensors that are worn in everyday clothing, like a bra, Bloomer Tech collects and analyzes data like electrocardiogram, pulse rate, respiratory rate, heart rhythm, and more in real time. This information can then be transferred to a patient’s primary physician or healthcare practice to inform and facilitate treatment for a wide variety of CVDs. All a woman has to do is place the sensor in her clothing and the technology tracks data in real time.
Their technology not only accelerates progress in solving cardiovascular global health problems, but is innovating to enable personalized healthcare practices while building a reliable and vast data set on women’s health.
Female-founded and operated, Bloomer Tech is inspired by Amelia Bloomer’s legacy. A women’s rights advocate from the 1800’s, Bloomer revolutionized women’s health and fashion by replacing corsets that were damaging to a woman’s heart and lungs with bloomers.
Heart-Tech Health Uses an AI-Powered Platform To Reduce Cardiac Risk in Women
This free online platform provides advice, news, events, research, and expert contributors to help women navigate heart disease and ultimately prevent it. Founded by a female cardiologist and New York Times super doctor, Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum, women can use the site to learn more about their symptoms, treatments, and find reputable voices in the space.
Powered by AI to provide individualized recommendations and tailored health programs, Heart-Tech Health is an innovative and interactive platform that allows women to test their own heart health, track their progress, and find peer support and motivation.
PocDoc Increases Access to Heart Disease Screening Tests
This small-scale rapid testing company with a digital platform via the PocDoc app, can be used to test for Covid-19, but its primary focus is on blood tests for cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
“Cardiovascular disease is the classic example of a wholly preventable condition that kills millions of women every year, yet is completely preventable but nothing can happen without access to screening,” said Kiran Roest, PhD, Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer, PocDoc.
“That’s why at PocDoc we made it our mission to use phones and tablets to massively increase access to cardiovascular screening – so more people can be tested, more conveniently, more affordably and take strain off the healthcare system, whether at home, at work or in the community.
The app delivers a full cardiovascular health checklist that includes: a quantified, lab-grade 5 marker cholesterol test with results in under 10 minutes. And the test itself delivers fully quantified results for the clinical standard cholesterol panel that includes: total cholesterol, HDL, non-HDL or LDL, triglycerides, and total Cholesterol / HDL ratio. While they’re currently focused on lipid tests, they are innovating to provide and introduce more rapid test solutions for diabetes, kidney and liver disease, and female health.
“On a personal note, as a woman I have been confronted by the stereotypical image of a middle-aged man clutching his chest as the poster-image for CVD for far too long and we need to wake up to the fact that CVD is a women’s health problem,” said Dr. Roest. “Alongside for example menopause, fertility and hormonal health.”
HeartFlow Expedites Diagnosis of Heart Disease Through 3D Imaging
A first of their kind company, HeartFlow, has created a new technology that turns a regular CT scan of the heart into a 3D image. HeartFlow allows doctors to diagnose serious heart disease in just 20 minutes from the scan, making diagnosis five times faster than usual and enabling treatment to begin earlier before the risk becomes life-threatening. Through this 3D image, patients can avoid invasive procedures and long wait times, and it removes the need for routine testing, to ensure patients are receiving care as soon as possible.
With more than 170,000 patients served worldwide, they’re transforming and innovating diagnostics and management of CVD to provide real time information and data to save lives.
CorDioFio Aims to Prevent Misdiagnosis of Heart Disease and Advance Health Equity
After losing her mother to a misdiagnosis that could have been prevented, CorDioFio founder, Petronela Sandulache, decided that she would do what she could to stop this from happening to other people’s loved ones. Tragedy became action, and CorDiFio was born.
They’re a digital health platform that specifically empowers women to have informed conversations with their doctors and accelerate the decision-making process about their own personal risk of CVD. Their website allows women to input their own health information, symptoms, lifestyle and day-to-day routines, which then allows doctors to spot risks and provide better care in real time.
With a core emphasis on advancing health equity for women and minorities by taking into account sex and gender-centric considerations, they’re innovating to make it easier for health care providers to spot the risks at a glance through the development of a digital platform that helps women understand their own heart risk factors.
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