Study reveals women at higher risk of death from heart failure, attack than men

Women face a 20 per cent increased risk of developing heart failure or dying within five years after their first severe heart attack compared to men, according to new research.

The research was published today in the American Heart Association's flagship journal Circulation.

Previous research looking at sex differences in heart health has often focused on a recurrent heart attack or death.

However, the differences in vulnerability to heart failure between men and women after heart attack remain unclear.

To study this gap, researchers analyzed data on more than 45,000 patients (30.8 per cent women) hospitalized for a first heart attack between 2002-2016 in Alberta, Canada.

They focused on two types of a heart attack: a severe, life-threatening heart attack called ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), and a less severe type called Non-STEMI or NSTEMI, the latter of which is more common.

Patients were followed for an average of 6.2 years.

Women were older and faced a variety of complications and more risk factors that may have put them at a greater risk for heart failure after a heart attack.

In addition to the elevated risk for heart failure among women, researchers found: - A total of 24,737 patients had a less severe form of heart attack (NSTEMI); among this group, 34.3 per cent were women and 65.7 per cent were men.