Most people think of cardiovascular disease as primarily a man's problem, but it is a major illness among women as well.
Heart disease kills more women than all cancers combined.
Heart disease is the leading cause of hospitalization and death among mid-life and older women. Heart disease was the leading diagnosis for women age 45 and older who were discharged from a hospital in 1991. Women experience half the fatal heart attacks each year. Women are twice as likely as men to die within a year after having a heart attack and are also at greater risk of having a second heart attack. One in nine women between the ages of 45 and 64 has some form of heart disease.