Heart attack? Women put husbands first

WOMEN are more likely to call an ambulance for their husbands if they show signs of a heart attack than they are for themselves, a study has found.

Doctors say wives and mothers often put the health of others first. Women also exhibit less obvious heart attack symptoms – such as back and stomach pains – which can also cause delays in calling for help.

Professor Mariusz Gasior, of the Polish Registry of Acute Coronary Syndromes, who led the study, said heart attacks were usually associated with men and that women would often wait before calling an ambulance for themselves.

The findings come months after a major study found poor treatment of female heart attack patients contributed to the deaths of more than 8,200 women in England and Wales over a ten-year period.

Speaking at a European Society of Cardiology congress in Malaga, Dr Marek Gierlotka said: ‘It is time for women to take care of themselves too.’