Women and Heart Disease

Heart disease is the leading cause of death among women. Almost twice as many women (both heart disease and stroke) die from heart disease than from all cancers combined.

However, heart disease in women is often times misdiagnosed or difficult to detect. African American or Hispanic women are more likely to get, and die from, heart disease than white women. What's more, the older a woman gets, the more likely she is to get heart disease. But women of all ages should be concerned.

Consider these facts:

Women are more likely than men to have a heart attack without chest pain
After a heart attack, women are more likely to die in the hospital than men
Women are less likely to receive cardiac catheterization-a key test to determine optimal treatment
Women develop heart disease about 10 to 15 years later than men
Smoking may increase a woman's risk of heart disease more so than a man's

Learn more about women and heart disease.