Cardiovascular disease claims the lives of more than 500,000 women each year. Many more women think of breast cancer as their greatest health problem, though CVD will claim the life of ten times the number of women than breast cancer every year. There are many misperceptions about risks among women. Hypercholesterolemia is one of the most important contributors to a woman's risk of developing heart disease.
Behavioral modification is extremely beneficial in controlling elevated cholesterol levels.
Dietary restriction and physical activity are known therapies to lower elevated lipid levels. If still elevated, medical therapy is very effective. A group of drugs called 'statins' have been proven to lower CVD events and deaths when used to manage elevated cholesterol levels. Risk factors for women that can be modified include smoking cessation, diabetes management, hypertension treatment, reduction of obesity and increasing physical activity. Other risk factors that are unable to be modified, but are important for assessing a patient's level of risk include age greater than 55 years, premature menopause, and family history of premature coronary heart disease.