Older women appear half as likely as their male counterparts to get a drug that treats a type of irregular heartbeat and lowers the risk of stroke, says a Canadian study out Tuesday. People who don't get treatment for this type of irregular heartbeat, atrial fibrillation, run a high risk of suffering a stroke.
Strokes occur when a blood clot shuts off the brain's blood supply.
Canadian epidemiologist Karin Humphries and colleagues studied 339 women and 560 men with atrial fibrillation. B.C. She says elderly women not taking warfarin are running the risk of suffering a deadly stroke. She and other experts say warfarin is much more effective than aspirin at preventing stroke. Atrial fibrillation occurs when the upper chambers of the heart quiver rather than beat regularly. The abnormal heartbeat can cause blood to pool and form a clot, which can trigger a stroke.