Women’s survival rate alert

WOMEN are more likely to die in the months after a heart attack than men because they face greater pressure to return to normal life, a study found.

The study of 4,100 patients by the Technical University of Munich found women were 50 per cent more likely to die in the subsequent year.

Victims are advised by the NHS and others to rest after a heart attack, but co-author Professor George Schmidt, a cardiologist at the university, said: ‘In everyday life, women often face different expectations after a heart attack than men.

‘They are expected to start “functioning” again sooner, which means that they are subject to bigger stresses.’

An estimated 275,000 women alive today in Britain have survived a heart attack, compared to 640,000 men.