WASHINGTON: For the first time in the history of heart disease research, a certain type of treatment has proven more effective in women than in men, according to a US study published Monday. The research found that women saw a 70 percent reduction in heart failure compared to men who saw a 35 percent drop when using cardiac resynchronization therapy with defibrillator (CRT-D), indicating it works twice as well in women. “In prior cardiac studies, men and women generally received similar benefit from preventive medical therapy,” said cardiologist Arthur Moss, professor of Medicine at the University of Rochester and lead author of the study. “Our finding was unexpected, but extremely important because this is the only heart treatment that is clearly better in women than men.” CRT-D works via an implanted device that helps guard against sudden death from irregular heart rhythm by coordinating the heart's electrical activity, and also helps strengthen pumping action in patients with heart damage. Researchers think it may work better in women because they tend to suffer from a different kind of heart disease than men. Men in the study were more likely to have coronary artery disease, in which narrowed vessels restrict blood flow to the heart. The condition is also known as ischemic heart disease.
