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English Study
Heart Attacks in Women Still Go Undetected: Maybe
Because Victims Older Than Men
Jan. 15, 2005 - Women are still less likely than
men to be correctly identified as having had a heart attack, despite the
publication of new guidance designed to lower the index of suspicion,
reveals research in Heart.
Research has repeatedly shown that women get
something of a raw deal when it comes to treatment after a heart attack,
and they don't tend to survive as long as men who have been similarly
affected.
But women with serious heart problems tend to be
older than men, and it has therefore been suggested that age, rather
than gender, might account for these disparities.
The researchers collected 6,172 samples of cardiac
troponin T (cTnT), any rise in which is now usually considered
indicative of a heart attack. The samples were collected from almost
5,000 patients, roughly half of whom were men whose average age was 66.
The rest were from women, whose average age was 74.
The study was conducted over 2002 at one hospital
trust in the north east of England.
Among the 561 heart attacks recorded during the year, over 90% had
increased levels of cardiac troponin T.
Taken together, less than half (40%) of the total
numbers of patients (1,304) with an increased cTnT were discharged from
hospital with a diagnosis of heart attack. Women in this group were
almost 40% less likely to be given this diagnosis than men.
New diagnostic criteria, published by the European
Society of Cardiology and the American College of Cardiology in 2000,
emphasize that slight increases in the troponins can indicate a heart
attack.
And subsequent research has suggested that if
strictly applied, the numbers of correct diagnoses would be given a
major boost.
The authors point out that a full year had elapsed
after the publication of the new guidance and before the start of their
study, so the new criteria would have had time to filter through to
clinicians.
They say that their study provides the first
evidence showing that women are less likely to be diagnosed with a heart
attack in the first place, let alone be given less effective treatment
afterwards. And this is despite the evidence of increased cTnT levels.
The perception that women are less likely to have a
heart attack than men must still be a factor in clinicians' decision
making, they suggest.
Click here to view the paper in full:
http://press.psprings.co.uk/heart/february/237_ht38497.pdf
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