I'm a cardiologist. A 42-year-old mother of two came to my office complaining of jaw pain and crushing fatigue. She ran half-marathons. Her EKG was normal. Another doctor had sent her home with anxiety medication.
When I got her into the cath lab, I found severe microvascular disease — plaque choking the tiniest vessels of her heart, the ones standard angiograms routinely miss.
Her heart had been starving in silence while everyone told her she was stressed.
She is alive today. Too many women like her are not.
Heart disease kills more women than every cancer combined. And medicine is still diagnosing it through a male lens.
84% of cardiologists report having patients in the past year whose heart disease was misdiagnosed by another physician. Women with a STEMI heart attack have a 59% greater chance of being misdiagnosed compared to men. Women with an NSTEMI — 41% greater chance.
The reason is structural. For decades, we screened, tested, and treated women using a template built for men.
Men's heart attacks announce themselves — the crushing chest pain, the clutched fist, the Hollywood collapse. Women's hearts whisper. Crushing fatigue that feels like wearing a lead vest. Jaw pain written off as TMJ. Nausea blamed on a stomach bug. An ache between the shoulder blades blamed on a long week. Shortness of breath blamed on being out of shape.
For years, medicine called these "atypical" symptoms. They are not atypical. They are female-typical. Half of humanity is not a variant.
And the biology runs deeper than symptoms.
Women have smaller hearts and narrower coronary arteries. Plaque doesn't only clog the big highway vessels — it hides in the microvasculature, the tiny branches feeding the heart muscle itself. A woman can have a heart attack with a completely "clean" standard angiogram.
SCAD — spontaneous coronary artery dissection — occurs 90% of the time in women. Often young, fit women with zero traditional risk factors. It's the leading cause of heart attack in women under 50, accounting for roughly one quarter of all cases in that age group. Most doctors have never diagnosed one.
And some of the most dangerous cardiac risk factors are hidden in women's medical histories where no one thinks to look:
Preeclampsia or gestational hypertension doubles to quadruples lifetime heart disease and stroke risk. Pregnancy is the body's first cardiac stress test — and these complications are early warning sirens, not closed chapters.
Autoimmune disease — lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis — far more common in women, turbocharges inflammation and plaque formation at any age.
Cardiovascular disease in women aged 20-44 is projected to surge nearly 50% by 2050.
The youngest patients in my practice keep getting younger.
What every woman should ask her doctor — and what every doctor should be asking:
"Given my pregnancy history, autoimmune status, and family history — what is my full cardiovascular risk?" If they don't ask about preeclampsia or gestational diabetes, volunteer it.
"Should I have an Lp(a) test and a coronary calcium score?" Standard cholesterol panels miss too much. Lp(a) is genetic, one-time, and most women have never been tested.
"My tests came back normal but my symptoms haven't stopped — what's next?" Normal stress tests and angiograms can miss microvascular disease, spasm, and SCAD. Persistent symptoms warrant coronary CT angiography or cardiac MRI.
And if something feels wrong — say these exact words to your doctor: "I am concerned this could be my heart."
That single sentence changes the workup. Do not soften it. Do not apologize for it.
80% of heart disease is preventable. But the playbook has to be built for female biology.
Two decades ago, I wrote one of the first books warning that heart disease was the number one killer of women and that medicine was diagnosing it through a male lens. It was recognized by First Lady Laura Bush at the White House during the early years of the national conversation about women's heart health.
I'm haunted by how much of that book I could republish today unchanged.
The science has advanced. The awareness has grown. But the gap between what we know and what happens in the exam room is still costing women their lives.
Share this with every woman you love — and every doctor who treats them. READ MORE: https://t.co/4LRugiY8q2
A Muslim mother speaking about a book that Ladybird is promoting during Pride Month.
The book is aimed at children as young as two years old and features two women - who appear to be a couple - with a baby, one of whom is wearing a hijab.
Her comments echo what many parents - of any faith or none - would likely agree with: that some topics are simply too adult for very young children.
She also states, quite openly, that while Muslims can of course live peacefully in a society where LGBTQ values are present, those values are not compatible with her faith.
So many questions.
But the one uppermost in my mind is this: will anyone dare to call this woman bigoted or transphobic?
For being honest about what she believes is appropriate for young children.
And for being honest about her faith.
Or are such accusations reserved for other groups of people who express similar views?
I’d also be very interested to hear what Zack Polanski has to say on this 🤔
Diese Worte stammen nicht von einem radikalen Hinterbänkler, sondern vom neuen türkischen Innenminister Mustafa Ciftci. Es ist wichtig, den Worten der politischen Führungsebene in Ankara aufmerksam zuzuhören, sonst gibt es irgendwann ein böses Erwachen wie bei Putin, den man jahrelang verklärt hat:
"Unser Weg ist noch lang, so Gott will werden wir auch den Kızıl Elma (den Roten Apfel) am Himmel sehen. So wie wir die Freiheit von Damaskus, Aleppo und Karabach erlebt haben, werden wir eines Tages, so Gott will, auch die Freiheit von Jerusalem erleben. (...) Mein Herr, gewähre mir eines Tages, und sei es auch nur für einen einzigen Tag, das Amt des Gouverneurs von Jerusalem. Ich glaube fest daran, dass der Allmächtige uns diese Tage zeigen wird, er wird sie uns ganz bestimmt zeigen. Daran habe ich von ganzem Herzen geglaubt und tue es auch weiterhin. Wie in der Vergangenheit werden diese Orte wieder uns gehören. Sie werden, so Gott will, wieder unter unsere Regierungsgewalt fallen. Denn wir haben einen globalen Führer wie Recep Tayyip Erdoğan an unserer Spitze. Wir haben einen großartigen Führer."
Der türkische Innenminister, einer der wichtigen Figuren in Ankara, bedient in die emotionalen Rede neo-osmanische Eroberungsphantasien. Dabei bedient er sich mit "kızıl elma" einer Symbolik aus dem türkischen Ultranationalismus. Die Beschwörung des Kızıl Elma ("Roter Apfel") ist keine harmlose Folklore, sondern es handelt sich hierbei um ein zentrales, symbolträchtiges Konzept des türkischen Ultranationalismus und Rechtsextremismus. Es steht metaphorisch für Expansions- und Eroberungsziele bis hin zur Idee einer türkischen Weltherrschaft.
Wenn die oberste Führung der Türkei derart aggressive, rechtsextrem untermauerte Töne anschlägt, sollte Europa und Deutschland vielleicht ihre Naivität ablegen - auch wenn man sich migrations- und sicherheitspolitisch in den letzten Jahren in eine Abhängigkeit zu Erdogan manövriert hat.
@duolingo Streaks, diamonds, gifts, badges, rare/epic chest… tap tap tap, gamify gamify gamify… update has nothing to do with learning, just more fucking NOISE! Still useless for grammar. Same stupid repetitions. Money grabbing assholes!
@kitanthegreat@duolingo Who do you think wants to look at this SHIT!?! Did you out of ways to get on people’s nerves now you have to do it by changing your stupid icon into sometging even more stupid? FUCKYOU!!!
Share this video with the world. This is Diana Taherabadi. She has been in prison for months in the hands of monsters and her life is at great risk. She is 16 years old, a child! I will not stop posting it until she is released and safe in her mother's arms. Save her life.
"Wir haben zugesehen, wie über religiöse und kulturelle Strukturen hier Loyalitäten zu einem fremden Staat organisiert wurden, und wir haben es als Folklore oder die Arbeit von vermeintlichen Religionsgemeinschaften behandelt." @KaymanMurat im neuen @derspiegel
https://t.co/lmXvFlYhvE
Hanau (Hessen) – Große Sorge um die 12-jährige Mia Marie Tomczyk: Das Mädchen wird seit zwei Tagen vermisst. Die Kriminalpolizei Hanau bittet die Bevölkerung dringend um Hinweise.
Näheres im Artikel in den Kommis
Wer glaubt, das Mullah-Regime werde durch Entgegenkommen milder, hat seine Logik nie begriffen. Kompromisse besänftigen Teheran nicht – sie ermutigen es. Jede ausgestreckte Hand gilt dort nicht als Friedensangebot, sondern als Eingeständnis von Schwäche, das zur nächsten Eskalation einlädt. Der Angriff auf den Flughafen Kuwait ist kein Ausbruch von Irrationalität, sondern das Ergebnis eines kühlen Kalküls, das der Westen aus Bequemlichkeit verdrängt: Stärke wird respektiert, Nachgiebigkeit bestraft.
My home country Scotland 🏴
NO cervical cancer cases detected in vaccinated women following HPV immunisation!
None! Zero!
What a stunning achievement !
The HPV vaccine ie a modern medical miracle!
Dnipro, first responders pulling a woman from under the rubble after this night's attack.
This is a nightmare scenario every Ukrainian is going to bed with every night: you or your loved ones crushed to death, because your neighbor is a psychotic murderer.
💔 A woman was killed while trying to save her children during a Russian attack on Kyiv
During the strike near a residential complex in the https://t.co/cTkujK2xvj area, a woman was running to a shelter with her two children.
She died from her injuries. The children were hospitalized.
According to local authorities, two more people were killed at the same location, while at least 19 others were injured.
בגיל 15 חיתנו את שרה מימוני. בגיל 16 היא כבר היתה אמא. היא מעידה על עצמה שהיא ״אוּד מוצל מאש״, ועד היום היא נושאת צלקות קשות בגוף ובנפש. בסיור ביבנאל עם הוועדה לקידום מעמד האישה - ראינו בעיניים שלנו איך נראית ומתנהלת מדינה בתוך מדינה. אקס-טריטוריה שדנים בה ילדות לנישואין אסורים ולאונס מתמשך.
נסיונות ההפחדה לא יעזרו להם, לא אנוח עד שננצח את התופעה הזאת
I’m still not over this line from the UN’s report saying the UN "was not able to verify" that Hamas sexually abused Israeli hostages.
Former Israeli hostages who experienced sexual violence in Hamas captivity have testified AT THE UNITED NATIONS.
They are human beings who have made their stories public.
I guess hiding behind an excuse was more politically convenient than listening to survivors?
🚨 Iran’s regime has UPHELD the death sentence against engineer Zahra Tabari, 68, for holding a banner reading “Woman, Resistance, Freedom.”
She faces imminent hanging after a sham retrial presided over by the son of the judge who initially sentenced her.
#SaveZahraTabari
Arrest and Background
Zahra Tabari, 68, is an electrical engineer holding a Master’s degree in sustainable energy from the University of Borås in Sweden. She worked for 30 years as a specialist for the Gilan Electricity Administration. Security agents raided her home in Rasht in April 2025 without a judicial warrant, confiscating personal electronics and placing her in solitary confinement for a month. She had previously been targeted by the regime in June 2022, when she was arrested for social media posts and sentenced to 18 months under house arrest with an electronic tag. She is currently being held in Lakan Prison in Rasht, where she suffers from chronic health conditions exacerbated by a lack of proper medical care and constant psychological pressure.
The Evidence and Charges
The Iranian authorities charged her with armed rebellion (Baghi) and maintaining ties with the opposition People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI or MEK). The sole physical evidence brought against her was a piece of cloth found in her possession bearing the slogan "Woman, Resistance, Freedom"—which authorities claim she intended to use as a banner to challenge their rule—alongside an unsent audio message on her phone.
The Judicial Farce: Trial and Retrial
On 25 October 2025, Branch 1 of the Rasht Revolutionary Court, presided over by the notorious judge Ahmad Darvish-Goftar, sentenced her to death. The sentence was decided before the proceedings even finished; the trial itself was a sham 10-minute session held via video conference, during which she was denied her chosen legal representation and given a state-appointed lawyer who endorsed the prosecution's guilty verdict.
Following widespread global protests—including an urgent appeal by over 400 prominent international women leaders, Nobel laureates, and former heads of state—the Supreme Court theatrically referred her case for a retrial. However, the case was sent to Branch 2 of the Rasht Revolutionary Court, which is presided over by Mohammad Ali Darvish-Goftar—the son of the original judge, Ahmad Darvish-Goftar. Unsurprisingly, this branch rubber-stamped the original ruling on 14 April 2026, re-sentencing her to death on identical charges. This final verdict was officially served to her this past week.
International Reaction
United Nations human rights experts have explicitly condemned the initial proceedings, demanding that Iran immediately halt the execution. Eight members of the UN Special Procedures noted in a joint statement on 23 December 2025 that her case shows a pattern of severe violations of international fair trial guarantees and constitutes an inappropriate use of capital punishment for ill-defined national security offences. Because the case involves no intentional killing, the UN experts warned that executing Ms Tabari would amount to an arbitrary execution.
CC: @drmaisato
🚨ANOTHER DOCTOR REPORTED MISSING
Arezoo Esmaeili, a doctor from Mashhad, was reportedly detained on January 9 while helping injured protesters.
Since then, there has been no confirmed information about her whereabouts or condition.
#آرزو_اسماعیلی