Men more likely to die from heart condition

MEN with a serious heart condition are far more likely to die than women with the same illness, a study found.

UK scientists discovered that men with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), a disease where the heart becomes enlarged and cannot pump properly – were 64 per cent more likely to die from it.

The researchers, from Imperial College London, analysed the data of 290 women and 591 men over five years.

They found that women’s hearts were less severely scarred. The heart’s strongest pumping chamber was also more functional in women who had developed heart failure, compared with men.

Yet women were 10 per cent more likely to develop heart failure and had more severe symptoms, such as breathlessness and fatigue, according to the study funded by the British Heart Foundation.

Doctors are now working to investigate whether female hormones could protect the heart from damage and develop new treatments for the condition, which affects around 260,000 people and for which there is no cure.