Why do women do worse after coronary artery bypass grafting?

This editorial refers to 'Sex differences in outcomes after coronary artery bypass grafting: a pooled analysis of individual patient data', by M. Gaudino et al., https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehab504. There is increasing awareness of fundamental differences between women and men in virtually every aspect of medicine; and coronary heart disease (CHD) is not an exception.1 It has long been thought that women were protected against CHD; a (mis)perception largely driven by the lower age-standardized rates of incident CHD and the notion that CHD develops ∼5–10 years later in women. However, CHD is the leading cause of death for both women and men worldwide, and the lifetime risks are similar when women's longer life expectancy is considered. Hence, although women have some natural advantage over men, this is driven by age, and women do catch up with men over their entire lifespan. Also, the fundamental advantage women have for the development...