Heart Disease and Women: Is the Right Message Getting Through?

Many patients and health care providers are unaware that cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in American women. Because diabetes is a well-established CVD risk equivalent, health care providers in practices that include a significant number of patients with diabetes should be particularly knowledgeable about this and should be able to discuss risks in real terms with their patients. Female patients, especially those with diabetes, should appreciate the magnitude of their own cardiovascular risk and understand what can be done to reduce that risk.

Ask a group of women to name a condition they fear and a majority will say breast cancer. Breast cancer awareness has been increasing steadily in the United States in recent years and rightly deserves respect as a killer of women. And, after all, it is the “C” word. But how does it compare with CVD as a cause of mortality in American women? Let's look at some of the facts.

1. In the United States, one in four women has some form of CVD.^{1 …}