Study: Women Still at Risk Post-Heart Attack

Women who survive heart attacks or strokes continue to live at greater risk of death and cardiovascular disease, according to a recent study.

“Rates of death in the acute phase of cardiovascular events have decreased, but disease burden remains high in the increasing number of survivors,” researchers wrote.
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“Nevertheless, little information is available on the long-term outcome of young patients who survived a cardiovascular event, especially women.”

To investigate the risk, researchers conducted a study involving 226 women who experienced a heart attack (average age of 42), 160 who experienced ischemic stroke (average age of 40), and 782 women (average age 48) with no history of arterial thrombosis.

Over a median of 19 years of follow-up, compared to controls, death rates were 3.7 times higher and 1.8 times higher in women who had heart attacks and strokes, respectively.

After accounting for both fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular events, incidence rates were highest in women who had experienced ischemic stroke (14.1 per 1000 person-years).

“Our findings provide direct insight into the consequences of cardiovascular diseases in young women, which persist for decades after the initial event, stressing the importance of life-long prevention strategies."

—Michael Potts

Reference:

Maino A, Siegerink B, Algra A, et al. Recurrence and mortality in young women with myocardial infarction or ischemic stroke. JAMA Intern Med. November 23, 2015 [epub ahead of print]. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2015.6523.