Ontario researchers find women with heart failure more likely to be hospitalized and die than men

This is one of the first studies to analyze the differences between men and women with heart failure in Ontario. It looked at patients who had not been initially hospitalized and found women with heart failure were more likely to be hospitalized and die than men. Researchers explain men often come in with heart failure after a heart attack and the ultrasound shows the heart is not normal. In women, the study showed they often have not had a heart attack and the heart function may appear okay even with heart failure. They believe the higher death rate and hospitalization may be because women aren’t being diagnosed early. Researchers say women could also be mislabelled as having lung disease because they’re short of breath and doctors and women need to be more aware of the differences.