REAL LIFE NEWS: SEE, I TOLD YOU HOUSEWORK WAS BAD FOR YOU (IF YOU’RE A WOMAN)!
by Hazed
Women who have heart attacks are more likely to die afterwards than men, because they are the ones that do the housework, look after children or care for relatives.
Worldwide, heart diseases are the greatest killer for both men and women. However, women are affected more severely; they have worse symptoms, poorer recoveries and are more likely to die from it. Until now it’s been hard to figure out why. Untangling biological or lifestyle reasons is tricky. But a new method of analysing data has allowed those factors to be teased apart.
Researchers at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, have been following the progress of men and women diagnosed with ACS (acute coronary syndrome – an umbrella term covering many heart disorders including heart attacks and angina). They analysed data from about a thousand people who were treated for ACS before they were 55 – that’s the age at which men’s and women’s health outcomes from the condition differ the most. They looked at how each person was doing a year after starting treatment, then added in stats about the person’s sex, medical factors, salary, time spent doing housework and lots more.
They identified seven factors that seemed to play a role in determining how well somebody would recover. People who experienced more stress at home and spent more time doing housework fared less well, as did those acting as carers.
“We have noticed that women who have bypass surgery tend to go right back into their caregiver roles, while men were more likely to have someone to look after them,” says Colleen Norris, one of the researchers.
Maybe women who are convalescing from heart problems should have a cleaner prescribed for them along with the drugs. Meanwhile, my hatred of housework is vindicated.
