Study co-author Karin Humphries, an associate professor of cardiology at the University of British Columbia, in Vancouver noted that the gender gap plays an important role in the treatment because younger women have worse results after a heart attack than men of the same age. In an article from the American Heart Association, she mentioned that women should be treated aggressively especially if they find a drug that works.
The researchers conducted a study on more than 12,000 people who had heart attacks in British Columbia. After the attack, all participants were instructed that they should take medications such as ACE inhibitors, beta blockers and statins to prevent another attack. A year after their attack only 80 percent of the participants filled their prescription. 65 percent of women below 55 started taking all of their medications as prescribed, compared to 75 percent of men of the same age.
The team of researchers pointed out the women who started their treatment as instructed was likely to follow their treatment plan as compared to men. They concluded that more of the emphasis should be given to how women are treated following a heart attack.
Study author Kate Smolina said that Heart disease in young women has recently receive this much of the attention so it is possible that both doctors and patients still have misconceptions or incorrect perception that these heart medications pose as risks to younger women who experienced heart attack.
