New heart attack definition promises better care for women

There has been ‘unintended systematic bias against women’ in the previous guidance, the doctors say. Photograph: David Sillitoe/The Guardian

Doctors have agreed the world’s first universal definition of a heart attack, paving the way for millions of women to finally receive better treatment after decades of being “deprioritised”.

In one of the biggest procedural shake-ups in a generation, the world’s four leading cardiovascular health groups have signed off on new guidance for healthcare professionals when seeing suspected heart attack patients.