The No. 1 cause of sickness and death in the menopausal woman is heart disease. In 1993, the number of deaths from heart disease in menopausal women was about double that from all deaths resulting from all cancers, diabetes and accidents combined. A major fear in maturing women is of getting some form of cancer, particularly breast and ovarian.
Cancer is a dreadful disease, no question.
However, it is a woman's risk for cardiovascular disease that plays the greatest role in how healthy she will be in her post-menopausal years. Since a woman today has an average life expectancy of about 80 years, she will probably live about a third of her life in her post-menopausal years. Therefore, it is important to reduce as many risk factors for heart disease as possible. Heart disease is often thought of as a man's disease, and men do have a greater risk of developing heart disease than do premenopausal women. Unfortunately, a woman's decreased risk does not remain throughout her lifetime.