Strokes are biggest killer of Irish women, report finds

IRISH women are more likely to follow the traditional route and get married and have babies than women in other European countries.

But Mná na hÉireann are also more likely to die from cancer, strokes and osteoarthritis than their European counterparts, according to a report published this week.

Women’s Health in Europe: Facts and Figures Across the European Union is published by the European Institute of Women’s Health.

The report reveals that many Irish women adopt an unhealthy lifestyle, with almost half the women surveyed admitting they binge drink at least once a week. This is more often than any other country in Europe.

The percentage of Irish women who smoke has dropped a little over the past 20 years to 26%, but Irish women are still the fifth-heaviest smokers in the EU.

When it comes to being overweight and obese, Irish women are not the worst, with 45% being an unhealthy weight compared to 70% in Greece. But Irish women don’t do so well when compared with women in countries such as France, where just 10% of women are overweight or obese.

Strokes account for the greatest number of deaths among Irish and British women, followed by lung and colorectal cancers, according to the research.

Irish women also have the highest number of deaths in the EU from musculoskeletal diseases, such as osteoarthritis.

The report reveals that Ireland has the lowest proportion of women to men in Europe, but predicts that this is likely to change over the next few decades as the population ages.

The major survey of women’s health also shows that illness is closely related to where they live and their level of education and employment.

Fine Gael MEP Avril Doyle, who helped draw up the report, said: “There is more to women’s health than their reproductive health and this has to be taken into account in the future.

“The key messages from the report are that gender and sex do have a significant impact on health and lifestyles that must be reflected in member states’ health services, and that there are a number of areas where further EU level research is needed.

“Women are not just mothers or potential mothers, and women’s health extends beyond reproductive health,” she added.