Universal heart attack definition agreed to improve women's diagnosis
Doctors agree on a universal heart attack definition with sex-specific blood test thresholds to reduce missed cases in women.
How it was covered
- ITV was the only channel found covering it.
- Channel 5, BBC News, BBC One, Channel 4, GB News and Sky News: not found in tracked broadcasts.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story. Facts only one channel reported are attributed to it.
Leading doctors have agreed on the world's first universal definition of a heart attack, a move designed to tackle long-standing gender inequalities in diagnosis. The new approach includes sex-specific blood test thresholds, meaning women who have heart attacks at lower levels will no longer be missed.
The change replaces the old numbered system for categorising heart attacks and encourages doctors to use X-rays more often. Until now, the same blood test threshold was applied to both men and women, even though women can experience heart attacks at much lower levels. The new definition places the types of attacks more common in women into the most severe category.
Faith Harrison from Shrewsbury had a heart attack at just 23. She said the change could have meant she was seen sooner and taken more seriously. She spent seven hours with every classic symptom listed by the NHS, but because she was young, physically fit and healthy, she was told she was having a panic attack or a stomach bug. She welcomed the new definition but added: "We need to listen to women actually long enough to get to that point of diagnosis."
The professor who led the international group behind the change said the definition is "particularly important for women" and that using sex-specific thresholds will reduce the risk of under-diagnosis, which has been happening for many years. He described the move as "transformational" and said it will change care.
Every 16 minutes, a woman in the UK is admitted to hospital with a heart attack. The hope is that with the new definition, those admissions will be met with faster and more accurate action.
Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |
|---|---|
| Only on one channel | |
| Doctors agreed on a universal definition of a heart attack with sex-specific thresholds. | |
| Every 16 minutes, a woman in the UK is admitted to hospital with a heart attack. | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
ITV1 focused on the practical implications of the new heart attack definition, using a personal case study to illustrate the past failures in diagnosing women. The report highlighted the specific medical changes, such as sex-specific blood test thresholds and the replacement of the numbered system, and balanced optimism with a patient's scepticism about whether doctors will listen to women.
- “Until now, doctors have relied on the same blood test threshold when it comes to diagnosing men and women of heart attacks.”
- “My heart attack was seven hours and I was having every single symptom that's on the NHS under heart attacks. But because of my age, I was physically fit and healthy. It was deemed that I must have been having a panic attack or a stomach bug.”
- “This new definition is particularly important for women. Using sex-specific blood test thresholds will reduce the risk that we under-diagnose heart attacks in women, which has been happening for many years.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.