Smoking Cessation Health Center

Heart Attack Complications More Likely for Women Smokers

Getting the Right Drug Treatment

The new findings echo much of what is known, says Marianne Legato, MD. She is founder and director of The Partnership for Gender-Specific Medicine at Columbia University and professor of clinical medicine there.

Legato points to one finding as extremely important -- that the women, whether they smoked or not, were less likely to receive medical therapy at discharge. This included aspirin, statins for lowering cholesterol, and other medicines to lower blood pressure.

"Women when discharged are not getting the careful regimens men do," she tells WebMD. "This is an important reason for complications six months down the line."

Quitting smoking is the obvious advice, Jackson says. "If you are smoking and you do unfortunately have a heart attack, you should quit immediately. Most people know that, but it's easier said than done."

"Although I can't say from this data that women who stop do better [after a heart attack], it's a logical conclusion," she says.

Legato adds this advice for women who have had a heart attack: "They have to ask their doctor if they have received all the appropriate medication to prevent a future event when they leave the hospital."