Findings are explained as a possible result of women tending to be older when they suffer heart attacks and the fact that they are more likely to be diabetic

Women are more likely to die following heart attack treatment than men, research has found.



They are also less likely to have an angioplasty procedure, a procedure to widen blocked or narrowed coronary arteries to get the blood back flowing to the heart, a study carried out by the Paris Cardiovascular Research Centre discovered.

Experts said this could be down to the fact that women tend to be older when they suffer heart attacks, and are also more likely to be diabetic. They suggested, however, that the fact that fewer women undergo angioplasties could be down to the “wrong attitude of physicians”.

The research, for presentation at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in London, involved analysing data on 11,420 people in the greater Paris area who suffered a cardiac arrest while not in hospital.

The survival rate for women was 18%, compared with 26% for men. Angioplasties were performed on 26% of women and 36% of men.

Prof Carlo Di Mario, a team leader for complex coronary heart disease at the Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Trust in London, said: “When they have a heart attack, women are usually older and tend to be diabetic more often, both of which are important factors that increase mortality risk.

“These are obviously pre-existing conditions that cannot be changed even with better treatment. These factors are, however, unlikely to be the only reason for their higher mortality.

“The medical community must still decide how much of this gender imbalance in angioplasty treatment is due to inherent characteristics within the female population or to the wrong attitude of physicians.”

Heart attacks are mainly triggered by coronary heart disease (CHD), which kills about 73,000 people in the UK a year and is the leading cause of death in both sexes.

CHD generally affects more men than women, but from the age of 50 the chances of developing the condition are similar for both.

About 850,000 British women are thought to be living with the condition, but many are unaware they have it. Di Mario said lack of awareness about the disease needed to be addressed, with men more likely to pick up on symptoms.

“A 45-year-old healthy woman checks her breasts when she showers, but may have never checked her cholesterol or measured her blood pressure because she will not think she is at risk of a heart attack,” he said.