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Taking women's heart attacks seriously

Posted at 1:56 PM on May 18, 2009 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)
Filed under: Health

Emergency medical personnel don't take women seriously. That's the takeaway from a University of Pennsylvania study released today that found no differences in the time of EMS care given to African Americans and white patients, but found women don't get the same medical care when exhibiting signs of heart attacks.

The researchers looked at whether patients got aspirin and nitroglycerin -- two immediate treatments for chest pain, and whether they were put on heart monitors and had IV lines put in while enroute to the hospital.

"Results showed that women were significantly less likely than men to receive aspirin while in the care of EMS - 24 percent of them were given the drug, compared to 32 percent of men," according to a report.

Comments (1)

For all the attention that breast cancer gets in this country, it's a shame that women's heart health doesn't get more headlines or charitable funding. Heart disease is the leading killer of women in the US.

Posted by Tyler | May 18, 2009 3:01 PM