Marked Increase in Number of Women Suffering Heart Attacks

The most common difference between men and women before women reached the pre-menopausal stage was that because of the presence of estrogen, women were thought to be protected against heart attacks, and less prone to them.  However a new studies show that in this modern age, middle aged women are experiencing more heart attacks.

This new study analyzed data taken from 8000 men and women from the ages of 35 to 54.  They analyzed the number of heart attacks experienced by men and women from the years 1988 through 1994 and from 1999 through 2004.  What they found was that men had more heart attacks than women in general, but the rates of heart attack of men improved in the second period from 2.5% to 2.2%, while the women’s rate of heart attack increased from 0.7% to 1.0%.

Another study looked at data from about 900,000 men and women who experienced a heart attack in the years 1994 and 2006.  What the study showed was that survival rates from 2006 from heart attacks were better in both men and women.  Women under the age of 55 reduced their risk of death from heart attack in 2006 by 52.9% while men of the same age reduced their risk of death by 33.3%.  Doctors identify this improvement to be due to better recognition and management of heart disease and risk factors that come with it. 

Along with this improvement however comes the fact that women in their younger years die at about the same rate as men when they suffer a heart attack.  The gap which once used to be large depending on gender has narrowed.  Because of rising obesity problems and failure to follow a healthy lifestyle, women even those who are young are experiencing more incidents of heart attacks.

With this new data available, action should be taken to curb the rising number of women who experience heart attacks by identifying the causes of the increase and taking steps to remedy the problem.