#صحة
Women's hearts are in danger. Receive less resuscitation in public places
CPR requires oral intervention and chest compression. Getty
If women have heart attacks in public places, they receive CPR from someone less present than men, causing women to have a higher rate of heart attack deaths.
CPR involves oral intervention and chest pressure to pump blood to the brain of those whose hearts stop beating, until a specialized health authority arrives to save them.
In a study to be presented at a medical conference in Spain but whose results have yet to be reviewed, Canadian doctors sought to understand how resuscitation is different between men and women.
They studied records of cardiac arrests recorded outside hospitals in the United States and Canada between 2005 and 2015, involving about 40,54 patients. It was found that <>% of the patients received cardiac resuscitation from someone on the scene.
As for cardiac arrests recorded in public places, such as on the streets, 61% of women received resuscitation compared to 68% of men.
Alexis Cornoyer, an emergency physician at Montreal's Sacré Cour Hospital who led the study, said the difference between the two ratios "contributes to higher mortality in women from cardiac arrest".
Cardiac arrest is one of the leading causes of death. The Canadian team noted that only about 10 per cent of cardiac arrest victims survived outside hospitals.
The researchers tried to find out the underlying reason behind the difference between the two ratios in men and women.
Dr Cornoy told AFP that one hypothesis is that bystanders may be embarrassed by the idea of touching a woman's chest without her consent, pointing out that age may influence the decision to emergency health intervention.
However, the study did not confirm whether age played a role, as women were less likely to receive CPR than men regardless of age, as the data collected showed.
Another explanation for the difference between the two ratios is that cardiac arrest is often a health crisis that only affects men.
A study published in The Lancet Digital Health in August found that men feel more pain in their breasts than women before suffering a cardiac arrest, while women are more likely to experience shortness of breath.
Dr. Cournoy:
"One hypothesis is that bystanders may be embarrassed by the idea of touching a woman."