Women have a higher chance of dying within a year after their first heart attack, new reports reveal.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a heart attack is a leading cause of death in females in the United States, but most women are not aware of this.
In the year 2009, 292,188 women died because of the said condition. Though the number is almost similar in men, many women don’t know that heart attack is the No. 1 taker of their lives.
In the report released by the CDC, around 26 percent of females who suffered from myocardial infarction for the first time die within a year which is higher than the 19 percent in men. Sadly, almost 64 percent of women notice no symptoms before they die.
According to the American Heart Association, men and women have different cause and symptoms for the heart attack. Depression in women is one reason which is linked to unhealthy lifestyle. They also feel symptoms which are not common indications of impending heart attack. Unlike men, shortness of breath, back, arm, neck or jaw pain, weakness, a feeling of dread and nausea are the indications in women.
Dr. Laxmi Mehta from the Women’s Cardiovascular Health Program at Ohio State University stated that women also wait longer before they seek medical help which worsens the condition. Compared to men, women tend to delay the medical treatment.
“Despite stunning improvements in cardiovascular deaths over the last decade, women still fare worse than men and heart disease in women remains underdiagnosed, and undertreated, especially among African-American women,” stated by the noninvasive cardiologist and director of the Women’s Cardiovascular Health Program.
As a result, guideline-based recommendations and treatments are not given to women which results in increased rates of readmission, reinfarction, and even early death.