Dr Alys Cole-King

Aim to support others. Retired psychiatrist SafetyPlanning Retired Clinical Director @4_MentalHealth_

[Dr Alys Cole-King @AlysColeKing]

On #WorldSuicidePreventionDay2025 learn how to support someone to make a #SafetyPlan by accessing free eLearning
#WSPD2025
#WSPD

[4MentalHealth @4_MentalHealth_]

Marking #WSPD25 today with 100 x FREE units
of our 'Supporting Others to Make a Safety Plan’ 30min eLearning module
✅Evidence-informed
🌈Universal for anyone
💜Compassionate
🫶🏻Safety protocol
we ALL have a role to play #suicideprevention
Email: [email protected] to access

[Dr Alys Cole-King @AlysColeKing]

Many thanks @MarkoVranic22 for your professionalism when writing this article.
You’ve shown that journalists have a special and unique role in #suicideprevention
Sensitive writing and following media guidelines saves lives
#Hope #SafetyPlans #Compassion
https://t.co/51J6Ms48gL

[Afshine Emrani MD FACC @afshineemrani]

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

[Dr Alys Cole-King @AlysColeKing]

#NewProfilePic

[Rita Arya @myobstetrician]

@theonlygirlhere @AlysColeKing We were doing this well years ago. Everyone knew their family GP.

[maureen Boyd @theonlygirlhere]

https://t.co/174KSui1Jb

“compared to seeing a new GP, seeing your usual GP was linked with an 11-21% reduction in hospitalisations, including ED presentations.
For patients seeing a known GP, there was an 18-28% reduction.”
Continuity of care matters!

[Dr Alys Cole-King @AlysColeKing]

@drsiwalker This is fantastic news - many congratulations!

[Dr Alys Cole-King @AlysColeKing]

My incredible nephew @GruffCrowther is facing 70 weeks of chemo for a brain tumour recurrence. He’s started a video diary to raise awareness, funds and to support others. Find Gruff Crowther on Insta! Please share his videos to support others #BrainTumourAwareness #Cancer #Cure

[Mark @DrMarkbuchanan]

#rcemac26
Looking forward to the Mental health session in Birmingham. Legal aspects related to our MH patients. Making this all clearer.
Also Discussing suicidal thoughts.

[Dr Alys Cole-King @AlysColeKing]

On my way to present at the inaugural annual conference of the @RCollEM Thank you for this wonderful opportunity to share ways ED can contribute to #SuicidePrevention Thanks for the invite @DrMarkbuchanan #RCEMAC26

[Dr Alys Cole-King @AlysColeKing]

@jenna_taglienti Jenna I’m so sorry you are going through this and wishing you all the very best for your recovery. You have written so beautifully and your words really hit home and resonated with me. Your article needs to join every undergraduate reading list. Thinking of you and your family ♥️

[Jenna Taglienti @jenna_taglienti]

I wrote this in a moment I never would have chosen. A sudden pause that made me see my life clearly.

The meaning of our work is profound. This experience simply helped me see more clearly what matters most.

“Time is Finite” JAMA

https://t.co/IwkKdyeEWx

[BMJ Mental Health @BMJMentalHealth]

📢 New Research 👇🏼
Does restricting access to lethal means prevent suicide?
An umbrella review in @BMJMentalHealth finds strong evidence for physical barriers, pesticide bans & reduced paracetamol pack sizes, though study quality varies & LMIC data are scarce.

Read more 👇🏼 https://t.co/U9o0KVMyo3
#SuicidePrevention #PublicHealth #MentalHealth #MeansRestriction

[BMJ Mental Health @BMJMentalHealth]

On #WorldMentalHealthDay, @BMJMentalHealth highlights a key issue: patient engagement in forensic mental health care is rising, but barriers remain.

A review of 73 studies shows we need system-wide change to ensure all voices are heard.
👉 https://t.co/MrYHVPD634

#ForensicMentalHealth #PatientEngagement #MentalHealthCare #RecoveryOrientedCare #BMJMentalHealth
@UofT

[TalentCoop @TalentCoop]

#WMHD25
Mental health is the Foundation of #GoodHealth
FREE e learning - get trained by Consultant Psychiatrist @AlysColeKing and team
Keep yourself or a loved one @MentallySafe

[Jo Talbot Bowen @jotalbotbowen]

Did anyone like @AlysColeKing say ‘free places’ ? Yes 👍 , and for learning such good 👍 life support . Spread the word.

[4MentalHealth @4_MentalHealth_]

To mark #WMHD25 we’re offering 75 FREE places:
'Supporting Others to Make a Safety Plan’ 30min eLearning
✅Evidence-informed
🙂Coproduced
🌈Universal for anyone
💜Compassionate
🫶🏻Safety protocol
we ALL have a role to play #suicideprevention
Email: [email protected] to enrol

[Dr Alys Cole-King @AlysColeKing]

On #WMHD25 we’re delighted to offer FREE places on our eLearning module to equip you to support others to make a Safety Plan #WMHD

[4MentalHealth @4_MentalHealth_]

To mark #WMHD25 we’re offering 75 FREE places:
'Supporting Others to Make a Safety Plan’ 30min eLearning
✅Evidence-informed
🙂Coproduced
🌈Universal for anyone
💜Compassionate
🫶🏻Safety protocol
we ALL have a role to play #suicideprevention
Email: [email protected] to enrol

[Mental Health - Time for Action Foundation @MHtimeforAction]

Huge thanks to Bessel Van der Kolk for writing us a #MentalHealthTimeforAction pledge at the recent #OxfordTraumaSummit

‘Time for Action!
Yes we can!’

#MentalHealthMatters
#TheBodyKeepsTheScore
#TraumaResolution
#Hope

[4MentalHealth @4_MentalHealth_]

STILL AVAILABLE: FREE units of our 'Supporting Others to Make a Safety Plan' eLearning module for #WSPD25
✅Evidence-informed
🌈Universal for anyone
⏳only 30mins

Email [email protected] to access

Grateful to our incredible ERG who make offering training like this possible

[Dr Ananta Dave exploring life’s palette of shades @adave_NHS]

@AlysColeKing Thanks for this work Alys and team