Cardiac arrest is fatal within minutes in the absence of care, which is lacking in women.
According to a new study published in theEuropean Heart Journalwomen who suffer cardiac arrest are half as likely to survive as men. In particular, the researchers found that women were less likely than men to be revived by a bystander (68% vs. 73%), even when there was someone to witness the fall (69% vs. 74%). .
Survival from cardiac arrest to hospital admission was also lower in women (34% versus 37%) and they were also less likely to survive from admission to discharge (37% versus 55% ). Overall, women’s chances of surviving cardiac arrest were about half those of men (12.5% versus 20%).
How to explain these differences?
To come up with these figures, Dr. Tan and his team analyzed data from all resuscitation attempts made by emergency services between 2006 and 2012 in a province of the Netherlands. During this period, they identified 5,717 cardiac arrests that occurred outside of hospitals, 28% of them among women.
Several factors may explain these differences between men and women. First, as women live longer on average, they are more likely to live alone, and therefore to have cardiac arrests without anyone to come to their aid. Second, symptoms of cardiac arrest are less recognized in women than in men, leading to delays in treatment. Researchers also found differences in how women were treated in hospital, such as being less likely to have a coronary angiogram (1).
Quick intervention can restart the heart
“People may be less aware of the fact that cardiac arrests can occur just as often in women as in men. Women themselves also recognize their symptoms less,” analyzes Dr. Tan. In addition, “women in cardiac arrest have symptoms that are less easy to interpret, such as fatigue, fainting, vomiting and neck or jaw pain”.
Cardiac or cardio-respiratory arrest (also called sudden death in adults) is due to a heart rhythm disorder, fatal in a few minutes in the absence of treatment. A quick intervention can restart the heart and avoid serious sequelae.
Symptoms of Cardiac Arrest
During a cardiac arrest, the victim loses consciousness, falls, and does not react when spoken to or stimulated. She is not breathing or breathing movements are inefficient, slow and noisy. Cardiac arrest may be preceded by palpitations or general malaise. In women, the warning signs are sometimes different: shortness of breath, nausea, stomach pain.
When the cause is a myocardial infarction, the person may present, in the days or hours preceding, prolonged chest pain that can extend to the arms, a feeling of oppression, tightness or even crushing. Cardiac arrest can also happen suddenly, without warning signs (2).
1) A coronary angiogram (also called coronary angiography) is a test that involves taking x-rays of the coronary arteries and vessels that supply the heart.
2) Source: French Federation of Cardiology.
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