I Have Read That Certain Cardiac Medications Are Less Effective In Women Than In Men. Is This True?

Noel Bairey-Merz, M.D., Medical Director and Endowed Chair, Women's Health Program, Preventive Cardiac and Women's Heart Centers, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

November 13, 2008

Question: I have read that certain cardiac medications are less effective in women than in men. Is this true?

Answer: There is some data to show that men and women are physiologically different with regard to how they express heart disease and how they respond to some of our heart disease treatments. That said, when we look at our uniform standard practice guidelines for treatment of heart disease in men and women, women are always better off being treated according to guidelines.

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And this would typically involve, say for a heart attack survivor, a women would want to make sure that she's on a low dose aspirin regimen, that she's on one of the statin cholesterol-lowering pills, and that she's taking one of the ace-inhibitor pills as well as a beta blocker. These four medications work well in women and men, and can reduce the chances of a recurrent heart attack by as much as 90 percent.

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