Women are at a higher risk of dying from heart disease than men. Over the years women have taken on habits and lifestyles that were once only for men. Women hold jobs in high stress fields and with trying to balance work and home life, women have fallen into some of the same destructive patterns that men have followed for years.
Women smoke, eat high cholesterol diets, and get insufficient exercise.
There are also hormonal causes. Not enough estrogen puts a strain on the heart. Some of the problems with getting early treatment for a heart attack is that women who are having one don't always have the same symptoms as a man would. The other reason woman are more likely to die from heart disease is that the medical world still doesn't always take a woman's complaints seriously. Many women go in to seek help from a doctor only to be sent home or misdiagnosed.