In one specific heart condition, women were 34% less likely to receive procedures which clear blocked arteries, such as bypass surgery and stents. They were also 24% less likely to be prescribed statin medication, which helps to prevent a second heart attack, and 16% less likely to be given aspirin, which helps to prevent blood clots. This is despite guidelines suggesting all three treatments should be given to both genders. The study found that when women did receive all the recommended treatments, the gap in mortality between the sexes decreased in almost all circumstances.

Thousands of women are found to suffer from the disease every year in Algeria, leaving many with no option but to surgically remove a part of their body deeply associated with their feminity. Hayat says her fiance dumped her after she told him she had an emergency operation to remove a breast. "He told me: 'I want a whole woman, not three-quarters of one'," the 30-year-old student said, bursting into tears.

Only 39% of women suffering cardiac arrest in a public place were given CPR versus 45% of men, and men were 23% more likely to survive, the study found. ADVERTISEMENT At the call of ‘cardiac arrest’, you swing into action – and try until all hope is gone Saleyha Ahsan Read more “It can be kind of daunting thinking about pushing hard and fast on the center of a woman’s chest,” said Audrey Blewer, a University of Pennsylvania researcher who led the study.