Stress associated with worse recovery in women after myocardial infarction

the Oncology Nurse Advisor take:

Current study findings suggest that the higher level of living stress young and middle-age women when compared to their male counterparts could negatively impact them when recovering from acute myocardial infarction (AMI). 

In general, surveyed women report a higher level of stress than men, possibly owing to differing gender roles in both work and family-related situations. Yale School of Medicine researchers examined data from the Variation in Recovery: Role of Gender Outcomes on Young AMI Patients (VIRGO) study, focusing on women of ages 18 through 55 who experienced an AMI event.

Results of a questionnaire about self-perceived stress were compared with each patient's recovery, in an attempt to explore the daily stressors in the patients' lives.

First author Xiao Xu, an assistant professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences at Yale School of Medicine, feels that this stress level could well be a reason for the different average rates of AMI recovery for men and women. Rates of diabetes, stroke, congestive heart failure, and lung disease are also higher in women, compared to men.