According to an article published in JAMA Internal Medicine, young women who survive a heart attack or stroke are still faced with long-term risks of death and illness.
Death rates from cardiovascular events may have declined but the burden of the disease still remains high among the survivors, especially those affected at a young age. However, very little is known about the long-term outcomes of young patients, especially young women who survive a cardiovascular event.
Frits R. Rosendaal, MD, PhD, of Leiden University Medical Center, the Netherlands, and coauthors investigated the long-term mortality and morbidity of 226 young women after a heart attack, 160 women after an ischaemic stroke and 782 women in the comparison group with no history of arterial thrombosis. The follow up period for the study was around 19 years.
The findings showed that death rates were 3.7 times higher in women who had a heart attack (8.8 per 1000 person-years) and 1.8 times higher in women with an ischaemic stroke (4.4 per 1,000 person-years). The death rates in the comparison group was 2.4 per 1000 person-years. The elevated mortality in those who survived a cardiovascular event remained high over time due to the high rate of deaths from acute vascular events.
The highest incidence rate was found in women who survived an ischaemic stroke (14.1 per 1000 person-years) as compared to the control group. The rate was 12.1 per 1000 person-years in women with a heart attack.
In women who survived a heart attack, the risk of cardiac events was 10.1 per 1,000 person-years and the risk of cerebral events was 1.9 per 1,000 person-years. In women who had an ischemic stroke, the risk of cerebral events was 11.1 per 1,000 person-years and the risk of cardiac events was 2.7 per 1,000 person-years.
Overall, these findings provide direct insight into the consequences of cardiovascular disease in young women as they often last decades after the initial event. It is important to outline life-long prevention strategies to deal with these risks.
Source: JAMA Internal Medicine
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
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cardiovascular disease, women's health, cardiovascular event, mortality, heart attack
According to an article published in JAMA Internal Medicine, young women who survive a heart attack or stroke are still faced with long-term risks of death and illness.
