According to a study published in the British medical journal, doctors could spot twice as many heart attacks in women using a newer, more sensitive blood test.
In case of suspected infarction, doctors rely on blood tests to help them judge whether a patient with chest pain is at risk of having a heart attack. This test looks for traces of a protein, troponin, which signals damage to the heart muscle. But, according to Britain’s Cardiovascular Research Foundation, current tests are looking for troponin levels that may be too high for women. While a newer, more sensitive test is based on lower levels. It could therefore detect twice as many heart attacks than currently, in women.
42% of women die of a heart attack
The Foundation therefore funded this study, published in the BMJ, including 1,126 men and women admitted to hospital for suspected infarction. Using the standard troponin test, twice as many men (117) as women (55) were diagnosed with having a heart attack. But when the researchers used the more sensitive test, the number of women diagnosed jumped to 111 while the difference was minimal among men.
In European countries, 42% of women die of a heart attack while 27% die of breast cancer. However, the risks of heart disease are underestimated by many doctors who are unaware that the pathology of these diseases does not evolve. in the same way in women than in men.
This is why women, including young women, should not hesitate to consult a doctor in the face of discomfort in the chest but also discomfort, shortness of breath, even a feeling of discomfort in the jaw or any other discomfort that could reflect heart failure.
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-1739366311.jpg "Ellie Bloom: “Seeing the size of the hole in my heart, the cardiologist told me that I had a guardian angel”")
