Why less women suffer from heart attack but are more likely to die from it

The incidence of heart failure has declined overall in both sexes in recent years and remains higher in men. But women are more likely to die from the disease.
 

A study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal included 90,707 new diagnoses of heart failure among Ontario residents from 2009 to 2014. Almost 17 percent of women died within a year of follow-up, compared with just under 15 percent of men.

Rates of hospitalisation decreased over the study period in men and increased in women.  Part of the explanation may be that men are more likely to have a form of heart failure that can often be treated without the need for hospitalisation, but women more often suffer a different type with few effective therapies. Also, women tend to present with symptoms that are different from men’s and not always as readily identifiable as heart failure.

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