A study undertaken by Leeds University and funded by the British Heart foundation has found that women are more likely than men to be misdiagnosed by the NHS in regards to heart attacks. The Leeds University team found a woman’s chance of dying within a month was 5.2 per cent, compared to 2.3 per cent for men. Around 200,000 Brits are victims each year.

Their study looked at 700,000 heart attack patients in 233 hospitals. The difference in care offered to women who show the same symptoms as men is thought to be down to a misperception that heart attacks tend to more prominent in men.

Female symptoms were often misdiagnosed as indigestion or neck pain, leading to these patients missing out on life saving treatment. Doctors were also more reluctant to prescribe drugs such as statins and beta-blockers that cut the risk of a second attack.

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