The gender gap in sudden cardiac death risk is narrowing, new study findings show. Previous research indicated that men who survive a heart attack were four times as likely as their female counterparts to die suddenly from heart-related causes. However, recent data from a study of about 6,000 heart attack survivors reveal that men are now at only 30 percent greater risk than women to suffer sudden cardiac death.
Dr. William Groh of the Krannert Institute of Cardiology at the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis believes that several reasons could explain the change. More women have risk factors for developing blood vessel problems, he explained, and women may also be less likely to recognize that these factors can affect their heart health.
"Men and women should take the same precautions. And doctors should treat men and women the same way, in terms of cardiovascular risk," said Dr. Steen Abildstrom, who led the four-year study conducted by the National Institute of Public Health in Copenhagen. Results of the trial are published in a recent issue of the journal Heart.
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