Thousands of well-dressed women are dying from heart attacks and strokes because GPs assume they are healthy

Thousands of well-dressed women are dying from heart attacks and strokes because GPs assume they are healthy

• Women with atrial fibrillation are half as likely to be given drugs as men are
• This could be because GPs assume they are healthy based on their looks
• Atrial fibrillation can cause potentially fatal heart attacks and strokes
  

By Sophie Borland Health Reporter

Published: 17:25 GMT, 3 September 2013 | Updated: 02:07 GMT, 4 September 2013

Thousands of women may be dying from heart attacks and strokes because doctors wrongly assume they are healthy just from their dress and appearance.

Women with a common heart condition are half as likely as men to be given medication that stops the blood clots that trigger heart attacks and strokes.

Researchers believe GPs and cardiologists may be fooled by make-up or sabtubet clothes that flatter a body shape and disguise illness.

Thousands of women are dying from heart attacks and suffering strokes because doctors assume they are healthy based on how they look, new research suggests

They say doctors are also failing to use international guidelines that estimate a patient’s risk of a heart attack or stroke based on factors such as their family history and weight.

The Parisian researchers looked at 14,274 patients with atrial fibrillation, a condition in which the heart beats irregularly and abnormally fast.

Although the study was carried out in France, the academics say the same trends would be found in Britain because the habits of GPs and cardiologists are similar in both countries.

It found that women under 75 with atrial fibrillation were 56 per cent less likely than men of the same age to be given anticoagulant pills that prevent blood clots.

In those over 75, the gap was 30 per cent.

Women with a common heart condition are half as likely as men to be given vital medication that prevents the blood clots

Guidelines state that 90 per cent of all patients with the condition should be prescribed the drugs, but the researchers found fewer than 50 per cent of women were offered them.

Pierre Sabouret, of the heart institute at the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital in Paris, said: ‘In my opinion, GPs and cardiologists are not implementing the proper guidelines.

They look at women and just assume that they  are healthy.’

He added that women often wore make-up and flattering clothing that could disguise poor health.

Speaking at the European Society of Cardiology conference in Amsterdam, Dr Sabouret said GPs and cardiologists were failing to refer to international guidance, called the ‘CHA2DS2-VASc’ score, which estimates the risk that patients with atrial fibrillation will suffer a heart attack or stroke.

It takes into account their weight, age, family history of heart disease and other factors such as whether they smoke, and from this, doctors know which medicines to prescribe.

But Dr Sabouret said that rather than refer to this guidance, doctors were relying on their own assumptions.

‘You cannot really blame the GPs – they have a very difficult job and must understand so many guidelines,’ he said.

‘But there needs to be much better relationships between cardiologists – the specialists – and the GP.’

Dr Sabouret pointed out that in Britain, as well as other European countries, the rate of deaths from strokes is high among women. They are one-and-a-half times more likely to die from strokes than men, which may be partly because they are not properly treated.