Women May Oversome Heart Ailments Better than Men

Tuesday, February 1st 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

A new study shows that women suffering chest pain get cardiac testing less often than men, but do better in the long run. Marion Zahhos has been suffering discomfort in her chest for a while. She didn't realize she was on a crash course for a heart attack, until a year ago when she ended up at the Mayo Clinic. "In the course of asking questions, as they always do, I mentioned the fact that I had this burning sensation,â€ Zahhos said. â€œI didnt know if it was heartburn or acid or what it was that was causing this. I never thought it could be my heart."

Zahhos 's doctor sent her for an angiogram. The test revealed a 95 per cent blockage in one of her coronary arteries. Prompt treatment with an artery opening balloon angioplasty removed the heart attack danger. "I was sorry that it had to be, but thank God they found it," Zahhos said.

A study in this week's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association reveals when compared with men, women are less likely to receive tests that diagnose heart disease. "The difference was between 20 to 40 per cent, depending on the type of cardiac procedures,â€ said the Mayo Clinicâ€™s Dr, Veronique Roger. â€œThe difference is sizable and that prompted us to look at the follow up of those people.â€

Researchers followed nearly 2,300 men and women who came to the local emergency room with chest pain. The pain was associated with a condition called unstable angina. Researchers found that though the women were just as likely to be admitted to the hospital as were men, women were less likely to receive invasive cardiac tests such as angiograms as well as noninvasive tests including echocardiography and exercise stress tests. After studying these patients for six years, the researchers also found a major surprise. "The most striking finding for us was to actually see that even though women were less likely to be subjected to cardiac diagnostic procedures, that their outcomes were actually better than that of men in that particular group," Roger explained.

Roger says further research is needed to determine why the women had fewer heart attacks and were less likely to die than the men. She also noted that whether the concern should be that men are subjected to too many tests. Roger says the study underscores the need for anyone, men or women, to seek medical attention for new or unusual chest pain.