All the resulting preventive, diagnostic and surgical techniques were tested primarily on men, leaving women with no medications or procedures tailor-made for them. One reason women were overlooked is that cardiovascular disease usually doesn't affect them until well after menopause. It's believed that estrogen produced during childbearing years may prevent atherosclerosis, the buildup of fatty tissue on artery walls that leads to heart attack and stroke, explains Debra Doud, M.D., a cardiologist at Advocate's Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove. Consider that women with heart disease are twice as likely as men to die within two months of their first heart attack, and they're more likely than men to suffer a second heart attack. Men and women share many of the same risk factors for heart disease, most of which are controllable.
Age is partly to blame.
Because women are generally 60 or older when first stricken, they also tend to be sicker, making treatment more complicated. What's worse, procedures like balloon angioplasty and bypass surgery tend to be less successful in women. And at the same time, more and more women are taking steps to reduce their risk of this disease-which can be prevented and treated. Arming yourself with information may be your best defense,'' suggests Samantha Oliver, vice chairman of the American Heart Association of Metropolitan Chicago and a past Governing Council member at Advocate's Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington. Talk to your doctor, talk to your family, know the warning signs and know your risk.