Heart attack is more bad for women

Article first published as Heart Attack Can Be More Fatal in Women on Technorati.

Researchers from U.S. have found that although men, under the age of 65, have three times more chances to get heart attacks than women but heart attacks are more fatal in women.

Researchers worked on the National Registry of Myocardial Infarction of more than 1 million patients from 1994-2006. They have found that “silent” heart attacks gave fewer chances to women to call a doctor in-time leading to mortality. They reported that middle-aged women, who suffered from heart attacks, have 60% more chances to die as compared to the males.

Researchers have found that 4.2% of 292,000 men died in hospital whereas 6.8% of 108,000 women died.  They have also found that 3.7% of women, who experienced chest pain, died in hospital while 2.4% of men, who felt chest pain, died in hospital. On the other hand, 16.1% of women, who didn’t experience chest pain, died in hospital while 12.5% of men, who didn’t felt chest pain, died in hospital.

Researchers have reported, "Younger women presenting without chest pain had greater hospital mortality than younger men without chest pain."

Cathy Ross, Senior Cardiac Nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: “Contrary to popular belief, a heart attack doesn’t necessarily mean dramatic and excruciating chest pains.

“Symptoms vary; for some the pain is severe and yet others may feel nothing more than a mild discomfort or heaviness. The most important thing to remember is if you think you’re having a heart attack, call 999."

And the second most important thing is to go for a regular medical checkup as “Prevention is better than cure”. Remember, you have to care for yourself not only for you but for your family too.

This study has been published online in The Journal of the American Medical Association.