‘We need awareness and education about women’s heart health and earlier diagnoses’

An Ashbourne woman who was diagnosed with heart failure in 2019 attended an Oireachtas Heart and Stroke Group meeting to back urgent calls for targeted action to advance research into women's heart health.

Fiona Meagher is behind the campaign for better care for women with heart conditions and more research into women's heart health.

“Our cardiologists are nearly always men. And a lot of symptoms of heart disease in women are put down to menopause or pregnancy. There needs to be changes and we need more research,” she said.

The recent Oireachtas meeting, which was attended by Deputy Darren O'Rourke, heard how women are under-represented in policy, clinical guidelines, research and medical education.

Often seen as a male health concern, women face a lifetime risk similar to men, but studies show that their symptoms are frequently overlooked, misinterpreted or dismissed.

Women with heart failure take an average of five weeks to receive a diagnosis compared with three weeks for men, and Fiona was one of those for whom a delayed diagnosis led to more serious illness.

Fiona, who is married to Stephen and has three children, Ally (26), Jack (22) and Darragh (18), was 48 when she received her diagnosis.

“I had a throat infection at Christmas 2018, went to my GP and got antibiotics, but then I felt unwell and I was back and forth to my doctor for weeks.

“I knew there was something wrong with my heart, but my GP couldn't detect it. I went undiagnosed for four months and because it was untreated it lead to a more life threatening illness and irreversible damage.”

Fiona ended up in cardiac arrest and had to have a Cardiac Resynchronization device fitted.

“I will eventually die from heart failure. The device and medication are keeping me alive, but now the medication is beginning to affect my kidneys,” she says. Fiona also suffered a mini stroke a couple of years later.

The road to recovery was difficult. “I had to claw my way back. I was very, very ill for a long time. I was determined to stay alive. My kids were all in school at the time.

“When you go in through those A&E doors you leave the life you had behind, you become a different person, You have to find a new way to live. The carefree life I had was gone and was replaced by fear,” she says.

“I was afraid of going to sleep. I was afraid of my children coming home and finding me dead.”

Fiona learned to park her worries and set them aside and created a new life for herself.

“I feel great now. I'm still alive and I won't waste time feeling sorry for myself. I retrained - I studied sports science and nutrition and I am busy with work. I teach exercise classes and nutrition. My main priority is to promote good health.”

Fiona is a Meath Patient Champion who advocates for the estimated 277,389 women currently living with cardiovascular disease (CVD) across Ireland.

“We want to see better awareness and education about women's heart health and earlier diagnoses.

“An awful lot of the studies and research on heart disease are done on men.

“We also look at supports for women post diagnosis, so that they can live well in the community. There is little or no support. I was self employed, so I got no social welfare, my husband had to keep me afloat and I had no counselling.”

Cardiovascuar disease is the leading cause of death among women worldwide and claims a quarter of all female lives in Ireland.

The Oireachtas Heart and Stroke group, set up by the Irish Heart Foundation in April 2025, aims to build consensus across the political spectrum to support heart and stroke patients and thereby deliver huge reductions in preventable death and disability.

Fiona said targeted action is needed to advance research into women's heart health, improve prevention and diagnosis and ensure equitable access to the cardiovascular care they deserve.

Women are much more likely than men to experience atypical heart attack symptoms, including nausea, shortness of breath, fatigue, and pain in areas such as the jaw or back.

These symptoms are often misattributed by healthcare professionals to stress, anxiety, or indigestion, which can delay treatment and, in some cases, be life-threatening.

The Oireachtas Group has called for targeted action on prevention, early detection and management of risk factors, education and awareness, access to data, research and medical training.

It also called for more timely diagnosis and awareness of the invisible struggles women can have in securing the supports they need to live well post-diagnosis.