Men at an advantage to women when it comes to heart treatment
Despite the fact that heart disease is the leading killer of both men and women in high-income countries, female patients aren’t receiving the same level of care, testing or treatment as men suffering cardiovascular disease, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported this week.
The AJC cited a review published in the Journal of the American Heart Association last December that analyzed more than 180,000 Swedish patients and found women were three times more likely than men to die the year after they had a heart attack.
Women were also 34 percent less likely to receive stent treatment for ST-elevation myocardial infarction than men, according to the study, and 24 percent less likely to be prescribed statins to control future heart attack risk. Men were also 14 percent more likely than women to be prescribed aspirin as a blood thinner.
“We need to work harder to shift the perception that heart attacks only affect a certain type of person,” study co-author Chris Gale said.
Read full highlights from the study here:
After graduating from Indiana University-Bloomington with a bachelor’s in journalism, Anicka joined TriMed’s Chicago team in 2017 covering cardiology. Close to her heart is long-form journalism, Pilot G-2 pens, dark chocolate and her dog Harper Lee.