If you're an African-American or Hispanic woman, realize that your risk is even greater than that of white women, and work hard on prevention. Don't count on hormone replacement therapy to reduce your heart risk after menopause. Duvernoy counsels that there's not yet enough evidence that hormone replacement protects the heart, or that it doesn't increase stroke risk, though she doesn't recommend that women stop hormones taken to ease menopause's effects or cut osteoporosis risk. If you've had a heart attack, make sure you follow rehabilitation recommendations. Cardiovascular disease is the leading killer of American women, and kills more women than men in the United States.
Heart disease kills more women than all cancers combined.
Women up to age 65 are less likely than men of the same age to have a form of cardiovascular disease, but women aged 65 to 74 are just as likely to have it as men of the same age, and after age 75 women are more likely than men to have it. 38 percent of women who have a recognized heart attack will die within one year. Those who survive up to six years are more than twice as likely as men to develop heart failure.