Globally, about 6 million people die from sudden cardiac arrest. Over the last five years, European researchers have been collecting data on sudden cardiac arrests to improve their treatment and prevention. In a series of studies from that research, they have shown that despite the common perception that sudden cardiac arrest happens without warning, people who experienced out-of-hospital cardiac arrest were more likely to have visited their primary care doctor in the weeks leading up to the event. The researchers also determined that women were less likely than men to receive a resuscitation attempt by a bystander, even when it was obvious, they were experiencing cardiac arrest. Women who suffered out-of-hospital cardiac arrests but who were resuscitated still had lower odds of overall survival than men. One explanation for the lower odds of survival could be that women are more likely to delay getting care after their initial symptoms appeared.
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