Infections Linked to Women's Heart Bypass Deaths

[Celebration]

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=healthNews&storyID=2006-02-27T212821Z_01_N27138609_RTRUKOC_0_US-WOMEN.xml&archived=False

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Infections, including those acquired in hospitals, may help explain why women die more frequently than men after heart bypass surgery, according to a study published on Monday.

Why women are more prone to such infections than men is not clear, said the report from the University of Michigan, nor is the reason for the higher death toll, although the body's systemic inflammatory response to infection has been linked to heart attack and death in other research.

The study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, was based on medical records from 9,218 Michigan residents who had bypass surgery, all of them aged 65 or older.

Investigators found that 16 percent of the women had an infection compared to 9 percent of men. Urinary, digestive, respiratory and skin infections were all more common in women than men.