Globally, Women Less Likely to Develop Heart Disease Than Men

FRIDAY, May 29, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Women are less likely to have or die from cardiovascular disease than men, according to a study published online May 20 in The Lancet.

Marjan Walli-Attaei, Ph.D., from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and colleagues followed 168,490 participants in the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiological study for incident cardiovascular disease and death for a median of 9.5 years in 27 countries.

The researchers found that women had a lower cardiovascular disease risk factor burden using two different risk scores (INTERHEART and Framingham). Adoption of primary prevention strategies, such as healthy lifestyle behaviors and use of proven medicines, was more frequent in women than men. Women had a lower incidence of cardiovascular disease (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 0.75) and all-cause death (aHR, 0.62). However, secondary prevention treatments (e.g., cardiac investigations and coronary revascularization) were less frequent in women with coronary artery disease in all groups of countries when compared with men. Yet, women had a lower risk for recurrent cardiovascular disease events (aHR, 0.73) and lower 30-day mortality after a new cardiovascular disease event versus men.

“Improving cardiovascular disease prevention and treatment, especially in low-income and middle-income countries, should be vigorously pursued in both women and men,” the authors write.

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