Women more at risk of irregular heartbeat than men

A review involving over four million patients has suggested that an irregular heartbeat is riskier for women, and that women with atrial fibrillation (AF) are nearly 50% more likely to have strokes and fatal heart disease than men.

Connor Emdin of the University of Oxford, part of the team that conducted the study, said “One possibility is that women with AF are undertreated relative to men.”

It is possible that women are also diagnosed later than men or that they may respond less well to AF drugs, which control AF and reduce the risk of a stroke.

Around a million people in the UK currently have AF and experts have said that doctors need to be aware of the findings to ensure that more can be done to cut down on avoidable deaths.

The British Heart Foundation’s June Davison, has said “It is important that healthcare services for the prevention and treatment of AF take into account the different effects of gender on the condition.

“More research is needed to find out more about the underlying causes of these differences.”

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Posted by Tony May, Partner/head of Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), Medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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