Women with gout more likely to have heart attack than men

Women with gout are more likely to have a heart attack than their male counterparts with the disease, say experts.

Researchers based their study on more than 9500 gout patients and 48, 000 people without the disease, aged 65 and older.

Boffins followed the cardiovascular health of all the participants for an average of seven years during which as many as 3268 fatal and non-fatal heart attacks took place.

The team found women with gout were 39% more likely to have a heart attack of any kind when compared with women without the condition while men with gout were only 11% more likely to have a fatal or non-fatal heart attack than those without the disease.

The study was published ahead of print in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.