More women die from heart disease, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases (CVD) than men, yet many women do not realize they are at risk. These diseases kill more women each year than the next five causes of death combined.1
The contributing factors for this epidemic include:
Lack of knowledge
Women and their health care providers do not know the biggest health care threat to women is heart disease.
Less than one in five physicians recognizes that more women die of heart disease than men each year. Among primary care physicians, only 8% know that more women than men die each year from CVD.2
Many minority women, including African American, Hispanic, and Native American women, have a greater prevalence of risk factors or are at a higher risk of death from heart disease, stroke, and other CVD, but they are less likely to recognize this risk.3 For example, the 2003 overall preliminary death rate (per 100,000 population) from CVD was 354.8 for African American females as compared to 256.2 for white females.1
Cardiovascular diseases kill nearly 12 times as many American females as breast cancer. Stroke kills 2.3 times as many American fe-males as breast cancer.3
40% of women consider themselves “well in-formed” about heart disease, but only 13% consider it their greatest risk.4
Treatment Disparities Women are less likely to receive aggressive treatment for heart disease and stroke than men.
Only about 33% of percutaneous coronary in-terventions, such as angioplasties and stents, are performed in women.5
Even though 46,000 more women than men have a stroke each year, women receive only 38% of carotid endarterectomy procedures to prevent stroke, although this may be due to higher perioperative risk for women.1
Information Gap
Even when women and their doctors do recognize the need for aggressive treatment for heart disease and stroke, they may not know enough about whether the treatments available to them are as effective as they are in men.
For one-third of all new drugs approved by the FDA in recent years, doctors and researchers don’t have any information about whether they are safe and effective in women.6
Heart disease continues to be the leading cause of death in women, claiming over 349,000 American women each year. Yet, women who are at risk for coronary heart disease are often not referred for appropriate di-agnostic testing, perhaps because physicians are more familiar with using imaging studies to evaluate men.7
Women represent just 38% of subjects in NIH-funded cardiovascular studies (excluding single sex trials).8
American Heart Association. Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics— 2006 Update. Dallas, Texas.: American Heart Association; 2006.
2
Women’s heart risk underestimated by doctors, resulting in less pre-ventative care than in men. Circulation. NR05-1011. February 1, 2004.
3
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Observations from the CDC. Journal of Women’s Health & Gender-Based Medicine. 2001; 10: 717–724. American Heart Association National Study. Tracking women’s awareness of heart disease. Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. 2004; 109: 573–579.
4
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics.
5
American Heart Association Scientific Statement. Percutaneous coro-nary intervention and adjunctive pharmacotherapy in women. Circula-tion: Journal of the American Heart Association. 2005; 111: 940–953.
6
2001 Government Accounting Office Report.
7
Cardiac imaging is underused in women to diagnose disease. Circula-tion. NR05-1012. February 1, 2004.
8
Harris DJ and and Douglas PS. Enrollment of women in cardiovascular clinical trials funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. NEJM 2000. 343: 475–480.
You can make a difference by telling your legislators that heart and stroke issues are important. Make your opinion known by contacting your local politicians and Congressional representatives by mail, phone or email. read more...
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