Research finds hypertrophic cardiomyopathy testing that overlooks sex differences and body size is inadequate

Doctors are failing to diagnose women with a potentially deadly heart condition because tests rely on outdated studies from the 1970s and do not account for natural differences in sex and body size.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a genetic condition where the muscular wall of the heart becomes thickened, making it harder for the heart to pump blood around the body. It affects one in 500 people, and can cause cardiac arrest and sudden death.