Yentl syndrome

The Yentl syndrome is the different course of action that heart attacks usually follow for women than for men. This is a problem because much of medical research has focused primarily on symptoms of male heart attacks, and many women have died due to misdiagnosis because their symptoms present differently. The name is taken from the 1983 film Yentl starring Barbra Streisand in which her character plays the role of a male in order to receive the education she desires. The phrase was coined in a 1991 academic paper by Dr. Bernadine Healy titled "The Yentl syndrome".

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States, killing 299,578 women in 2017—or about 1 in every 5 female deaths. However, heart disease continues to be thought of as a "man's disease".

References

• Bairey Merz, C. Noel (August 2011). "The Yentl syndrome and gender inequality in ischemic HD". Cardiology Today. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
• Healy, Bernadine (25 July 1991), "The Yentl Syndrome", New England Journal of Medicine, 325 (4): 274–276, doi:10.1056/NEJM199107253250408, PMID 2057027
• Bairey Merz, C. Noel (December 2011). The single biggest health threat women face (Video Lecture). TEDxWomen.
• Orth-Gomer, Kristina (2000). "New light on the Yentl syndrome" (PDF). European Heart Journal. 21 (11): 874–875. doi:10.1053/euhj.1999.2025. PMID 10806007. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
• Thomas, Carolyn (17 April 2013), Yentl Syndrome: cardiology's gender gap is alive and well, Heart Sisters, retrieved 25 November 2014
• Yentl's syndrome, Whonamedit?, retrieved 25 November 2014

External links

• C. Noel Bairey Merz, MD
• Heart Attack Symptoms in Women, American Heart Association, retrieved 25 November 2014