To help improve their heart health, women need to stop being such nags, according to the American Heart Association.
The association issued a scientific statement on Monday on the knowledge gap between women and heart attacks and the steps needed to treat heart disease in women. The association found that more women die than men within a year of their first heart attack regardless of age.
A key reason is that fewer women are prescribed cardiac rehab after a heart attack and a majority of those who are prescribed don’t attend. According to the lead study author, this is largely due to the women’s disregard for their own health.
“Frankly, women are great at nagging their spouses, so they make sure their partner takes their medications, goes to cardiac rehab, eats better and sees the doctor,” said Laxima Mehta, clinical director of the Women’s Cardiovascular Health Program at Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center. She is the lead author of the scientific statement.
“Unfortunately, women don’t make their own personal health their priority, which contributes to more favorable outcomes in men versus women after a heart attack,” she added.
Researchers also found that women seem to have more bleeding risks and other complications “following procedures to restore blood flow, as well as more readmissions and deaths in the first year after a heart attack,” the authors said.
They see up to 30 percent more readmissions within 30 days after hospitalization compared to men, according to the heart association.
The statement adds that more research should to be done to improve knowledge on how to treat women for heart attacks.
