• Cardiovascular disease (CVD) ranks first among all disease categories in hospital discharges for women.
• Nearly 37 percent of all female deaths in America occur from CVD, which includes coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke and other cardiovascular diseases.
• CVD is a particularly important problem among minority women. The death rate due to CVD is substantially higher in black women than in white women.
• In 2005, CVD claimed the lives of 454,613 females; cancer (all forms combined) 268,890.
• In 2005, coronary heart disease claimed the lives of 213,572 females compared with 41,116 lives from breast cancer and 67,894 from lung cancer.
• At age 40 and older, 23 percent of women compared with 18 percent of men will die within one year after a heart attack.
• Stroke is a leading cause of serious, long-term disability; an estimated 15 percent to 30 percent of stroke survivors are permanently disabled.
• Misperceptions still exist that CVD is not a real problem for women.

Women lack understanding of their risks
A 2003 American Heart Association study of more than 1,000 women conducted by Harris Interactive, Inc., revealed the lack of understanding women have of the dangers of heart disease and stroke. According to the results, a mere 13 percent of women in America believe that heart disease and stroke are the greatest health threat to women. This reveals the lack of knowledge and understanding a majority of women have for their most serious health threat. Though minority women face the highest risk of death from heart disease and stroke, they have lower risk factor awareness.

Important facts about women's risk, diagnosis and treatment 

• Risk of heart disease and stroke increases with age, and in the year 2006, more than 36 million American women were 55 and older.
• More women than men die of stroke.
• Low blood levels of "good" cholesterol (high density lipoprotein or HDL) appear to be a stronger predictor of heart disease death in women than in men in the over-65 age group; high blood levels of triglycerides (another type of fat) may be a particularly important risk factor in women and the elderly.
• Regular physical activity and a healthy weight reduce the risk of non-insulin-dependent diabetes, also called type 2 diabetes, which appears to be an even stronger contributing risk factor for heart disease in women than in men.
• Diagnosis of heart disease presents a greater challenge in women than in men.