According to Alessandro Distante, MD, PhD, the Scientific Director of ISBEM and the only Italian to have received the prestigious Award of the American College of Cardiology, "So rapid and large an increase in admissions for heart attacks in younger women may be the first visible consequence of the radical change in women's lifestyles over the last forty years, with the growth of exposure to cardiovascular risk factors like cigarette smoking."

Noting the increased numbers of heart attacks in women over 75 years, the study confirms the importance of the loss of the protective effect of menopause in a country characterized by a continuous increase in the number of older people and particularly older women.

The costs of hospitalizations and hospital treatment of heart attacks in Italy (including angioplasty and bypass) widened from 305 to 370 million euros for the years 2001 to 2005. Increased costs of rehabilitation post-cardiac events rose from 349 million to 424 million euros over five years.

"Remembering always that a proportion of patients still die without reaching the hospital, the annual cost for acute myocardial infarction for those who come to the hospital amounted to 800 million euros in 2005 with an average cost of 3115 euros per patient. Today, it's very likely that sum has exceeded one billion euros per year, " says Dr. Piscitelli.

Source: Sbarro Health Research Organization