Indeed, clinical study participants are traditionally not only men, but white men, so that information on the effects of medications on women of African-American, Hispanic, or other ethnic origin is almost nonexistent. Perhaps the most glaring heart-health inequity between men and women surrounds the question of surgical treatment. The Mayo Clinic Heart Book reports that nearly four times as many men as women have coronary artery bypass operations. When women do undergo bypass, their recoveries are longer and less certain, partly because women tend to be older and sicker when the procedures are done. They are generally ten years older than their male counterparts and are more likely to have diabetes and high blood pressure, which complicate the surgeon's task even more than these conditions do in men.
Women tend to undergo bypass under emergency conditions, making it somewhat riskier.
Further, women's coronary arteries are smaller and the operation is therefore more difficult to perform. With female baby boomers reaching menopause, the proportionate incidence of cardiovascular disease among women can only increase. The medical profession must direct its heart research to give women equal benefits from the enormous strides made in cardiology. A large percentage of women do not know they have diabetes. Two-thirds of those who do know it fail to control their blood sugar levels.