Age, illness also significant factors
In the first month after suffering a heart attack, women may be twice as likely to die than men. According to a new study however, gender is not the key factor in this outcome. Doctors at the New York University School of Medicine found that there are major differences in the characteristics of the men and women who have heart attacks. Women are more likely to be older, have diabetes and high blood pressure, while men are more likely to have had previous heart failure, bypass surgery and to smoke. But when they compared men and women of the same age and status, the gender gap in survival rates was eliminated.