MIAMI-DADE COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT SPRING 2004 ...

Women and Coronary Heart Disea
ELENI D.
SFAKIANAKI,
M.D., M.S.P.H.
MDCHD Medical
Executive
Director
Coronary heart disease -
part of the overall classification
of Cardiovascular
Diseases (CVD)- continues
to be the leading cause of
death in the United States,
and in many other developed
nations. Death rates
from CVD have been going
down over the last several
decades. However, despite
an overall reduction, the rate
of decline is less for women
than for men. In terms of
total deaths, in every year
since 1984, CVD has claimed the lives of more
females than males. And the gap between male
and female deaths is wide, as the graph below
shows:
It is estimated that one in two women will eventually die
Misperceptions still exist that CVD is not a real
problem for women. Many people still believe
that "heart disease is a man's disease."
However, the harsh reality is that:
Cardiovascular diseases cause about a
death a minute among women, claiming more
than one half million female lives every year.
That is more lives than the next 7 causes of
death in women combined.
It is estimated that one in two women will
eventually die of heart disease or stroke, compared
with one in 25 who will eventually die of
breast cancer.
Starting at age 75, the prevalence of CVD
among women is higher than that among men.
Nearly two thirds of women who die suddenly
have no previously recognized symptoms.
CVD is a particularly important problem
among minority women. The death rate due to
CVD is 69 percent higher in black women than in
white women.
The good news is that, according to the
literature, overwhelming evidence suggests
that CVD can be prevented to a large
extent in both men and women. As we
know, several factors raise the risk of heart
disease. These include:
Increasing age
Gender
Heredity and race
High blood cholesterol
High blood pressure
Tobacco smoke
Physical inactivity
Obesity or overweight and
Diabetes.
Addressing these factors and effectively
modifying or controlling them, can substantially
reduce the risk for CVD. Of course,
some of these factors, namely the first
three ones, cannot be modified: we cannot
turn the clock back nor can we change our
gender and our family history. However,
both men and women can do a lot to modify
or control the other risk factors: high
blood cholesterol, high blood pressure,
tobacco smoke, physical inactivity, obesity
or overweight and diabetes.
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