For links to medical and health specialty groups that belong to the Society, please see our Medical Health Advisory Board list. We recognize that we have merely touched upon a few of the great number of diseases and conditions that adversely affect women. Our aim is to highlight several of the alarming gaps in knowledge which make effective preventive methods, treatments, and cures impossible. By bringing these inequities in research to the public eye, the Society strives to bring much needed attention and resources to women's health research. Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of American women.
Death rates are higher for African-American women than for white women.
Contrary to the myth that it is a man s disease, cardiovascular disease actually kills 43,000 more women than men each year. Although more women than men die from cardiovascular disease, virtually all randomized controlled trials on risk and treatment have focused on men and the majority of cardiovascular procedures are conducted on men. July 1994 and American Heart Association. Heart disease in women often goes undetected and untreated until the disease has become severe. Stroke is the leading cause of severe disability in the U.S. for both women and men and is associated with approximately 15 billion dollars of medical costs each year.