Risk of death from heart failure is lower in women than in men

Women with chronic heart failure survive longer than their male counterparts, according to a large analysis of studies comprising data on more than 40,000 subjects.(1) The analysis represents the largest assessment of gender and mortality risk in heart failure - and provides evidence which many randomised trials have failed to do because they have been dominated by male patients.

Heart failure is by far the single biggest reason for acute hospital admission. Its incidence is still increasing: more cases are being identified, more people are living to an old age, and more are surviving a heart attack but with damage to the heart muscle. The condition arises when the heart fails to pump sufficient blood to meet the body's demands. The common symptoms of heart failure - shortness of breath, tiredness, oedema - are usually associated with failure of the left side of the heart (the left ventricle, which pumps blood into the circulation), as defined by a measurement known as left ventricular ejection fraction.

The latest study, published on the 8th of March in the European Journal of Heart Failure, also found that heart failure patients whose ejection fraction is not reduced (i.e., is "preserved") have a lower mortality risk that those with reduced ejection fraction. Preserved ejection fraction is more common among women than men, and this, say the authors, "may be expected to lead to better survival for these patients".

The study, known as the Meta-Analysis Global Group in Chronic Heart Failure (MAGGIC), analysed data from 31 randomised and observational studies involving 28,052 men and 13,897 women with chronic heart failure. The data were analysed for survival over three years of follow-up, and showed that 25.3% of the women and 25.7% of the men died during the three years; this represented a death rate of 137 deaths per 1000 patient-years in men and 135 per 100 patient-years in women.

When adjusted for age, however, the results showed that men had a 31% higher risk of death than women (hazard ratio 1.31, with statistically significant confidence intervals), and that male gender was an independent risk factor for death at three years (hazard ratio 1.23). The study, say the authors, was "appropriately powered to ascertain the prognostic significance of sex in patients with heart failure".

This excess mortality risk associated with male gender was of similar magnitude in patients with either reduced or preserved ejection fraction, which was not affected by either age or history of hypertension.

Heart Disease Risk In Women If you are a woman, it is important to understand your heart disease risk - and to do something about it.

While many women (and unfortunately, many doctors) apparently still do not know it, heart disease is the number one killer of women. About a half million women die of heart disease each year in the U.S. - in fact, more women than men die from cardiovascular disease. Just as bad, women have significantly more strokes than men. So, to keep your chances of developing heart disease and stroke as low as possible, it is extremely important for you to control your risk factors.