The American Heart Association has launched the National Women's Heart Disease and Stroke Campaign to combat this growing trend. Heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular diseases have killed more women than men every year since 1984. The 1995 statistics show 455,000 men died compared to 505,000 women. This figure is 10 times the number of women who died of breast cancer in 1995 and nearly twice the number who died from all other kinds of cancer, AIDS and accidents combined. Despite these facts, according to a recent survey by the American Heart Association, only 8 percent of women consider heart disease, heart attack and stroke to be the greatest health problem facing women today and only 30 percent have discussed heart disease with their doctors.
Most doctors attribute heart disease to high cholesterol levels.
These high levels can clog the artery walls, causing the formation of a hard, thick substance called cholesterol plaque. This plaque thickens the artery walls and narrows the arteries in a process called atherosclerosis. Cholesterol is found mainly in foods that come from animals, including meat, poultry, fish and dairy products. Organ meats, such as liver, are especially high in cholesterol. Vegetables contain no cholesterol.