BOSTON (CBS) -- Where you live may influence the quality of healthcare you get after a heart attack, according to a study in JAMA Cardiology.

After having a heart attack, patients should be treated with high-intensity statin therapy and drugs to lower cholesterol and try to prevent a second one.

After studying data on nearly 140,000 patients hospitalized after a heart attack, researchers found large variations in high-intensity statin use across the country, with the greatest use in New England and lowest use in the west south-central region, which includes Texas and Louisiana.

Statin use was also higher in teaching hospitals. But women were also less likely to receive high-intensity statin therapy after a heart attack than men.