More Women Are Dying From Heart Attacks But For Very Wrong Reasons
Just when you thought the gap between the sexes might be closing in, disturbing new information has come to light proving just how far apart men and women really are in some respects. A new long-term study has emerged from Sweden showing that women are twice as likely to die from a heart disease than men a year after being diagnosed. They are also more likely to get poorer treatment after a heart attack than men.
The statistics are disturbing: researchers from the University of Leeds and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden analysed the outcomes of 180,368 Swedish patients who suffered a heart attack over a 10-year period. For one specific heart condition, women were found to be 34% less likely to receive procedures to clear blocked arteries, such as bypass surgery and stents. They were also 24% less likely to be prescribed statin medication, which helps to prevent a second heart attack, and 16% less likely to be given aspirin, which helps to prevent blood clots.
It was noted that when women did receive the recommended treatment for their condition the gap for mortality closed quite considerably. From this, it’s important to see that such long-term lead studies are so important and need to be undertaken in order for the health and medical community to be able to make better conclusions about gaps in the system.Concerns for women in the UK are even higher amongst researchers: there are roughly 124,000 men and 70,000 women who are hospitalised for heart attacks in the UK per year and the study indicated that the medical attention for women in the UK is even worse.
Professor Jeremy Pearson of the British Heart Foundation said of the study: “The findings from this research are concerning. We urgently need to raise awareness of this issue as it’s something that can be easily changed. By simply ensuring more women receive the recommended treatments, we’ll be able to help more families avoid the heartbreak of losing a loved one to heart disease.”
