Women’s risk is greater after first heart attack
Women’s risk is greater after first heart attack
Why women die more often than men
When it comes to heart attack survival, there is a deep disparity between the sexes, according to a new report.1 Women have more severe first-time heart attacks and about a 70% higher risk of dying within months than men. Investigators followed about 1,500 patients — 331 women and 1,129 men — hospitalized for first heart attacks and found that the women tended to be older than the men when they had their first attack and were more severe, leading to more complications. The team also noted that more women than men had high blood pressure, previous chest pain, and diabetes.
After their first attack, the study reports, men were more likely than women to receive treatment to dissolve blood clots, a consequence of the fact that men were likely to arrive at the emergency department on average an hour earlier than women. Within 28 days of having their first heart attack, more than 18% of the women had died, compared with about 8% of the men. Six months after they had had the heart attack, nearly 26% of the women had died, compared with about 11% of the men. Another 23% of the women were readmitted to the hospital after 6 months, compared with 12% of the men.
After differences in age and related health problems were taken into account, the death rate for women during the first 28 days after a first attack was 18.5% compared to 8.3% for men — a 72% greater risk — and a 73% greater risk of death at 6 months than the men. These findings parallel those of other studies, which have found that women fare worse after a heart attack, and are more likely to die within a year of a heart attack than men. Previous studies also found, however, that more men than women die of heart attacks before they make it to the hospital, the investigators note.
Reference
1. Marrugat J, Sala J, Masiá R, et al. For RESCATE Investigators. Mortality differences between men and women following first myocardial infarction. JAMA 1998; 280:1,405-1,409.
Editor’s note: Additional information on women and heart disease can be found on the NHBLI’s home page: www.nhlbi.nih.gov/nhlbi/nhlbi.htm.
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