|
|
Women Downplay Heart Disease, Study Shows
Women may be tougher than men when it comes to handling heart disease, according to a new study. Researchers at the University of Michigan compared 142 women and 348 men with heart disease. The women's hearts were more compromised, but women and men gave themselves equal ratings for their heart disease's severity. The report appears in The American Journal of Medicine.
Heart disease is a leading cause of death for men and women alike. Studies have repeatedly noted differences in heart care for women and men. For instance, a study presented in November showed that women at high risk of a heart attack were less likely than their male peers to get certain heart tests and treatments. In September, a study done in Dublin, Ireland, showed that when men and women went to Dublin emergency rooms because of possible heart attacks, women waited longer for evaluation and care. Last January, British researchers reported that women's heart attacks are less likely to be diagnosed than men's heart attacks. The reasons for the differences were not clear.
The researchers mailed surveys to about 1,200 people seen at the University of Michigan Hospital from 1999-2002 for problems including heart attacks and unstable angina (chest pain). 40% of the patients responded. Men and women were equally likely to respond, and they seemed similar to people who didn't respond, the researchers note. Male and female participants had similar backgrounds, in terms of race and their type of heart problem. However, the women tended to be older, less educated, had more heart symptoms, and took more prescription drugs.
|
|
|
