Another recent study revealed that a disproportionately large share of U.S. federal research dollars is spent on these diseases in relation to the actual toll they take on public health 2 . While these diseases and conditions are of great concern, others that are just as much or even more of a threat to women deserve attention.
More women die from heart disease each year than from breast, ovarian, and uterine cancer combined.
Heart disease is the number one cause of mortality in women , killing more women than men each year 3 . In 1997, approximately 63,000 men and 97,000 women died of stroke 3 . Lung cancer is the leading cancer killer of women, taking the lives of approximately 62,000 women each year 3 . Given the same level of lifetime exposure to cigarette smoke , the risk for developing lung cancer is 20 to 70 percent higher in women than men 4 . Colorectal cancer is the third leading cause of cancer deaths in women, killing almost 30,000 women each year 3 .