Most people think of cardiovascular disease as primarily a man's problem, but it is a major illness among women as well. Heart disease kills more women than all cancers combined. Heart disease is the leading cause of hospitalization and death among mid-life and older women. Heart disease was the leading diagnosis for women age 45 and older who were discharged from a hospital in 1991.
Women experience half the fatal heart attacks each year.
Women are twice as likely as men to die within a year after having a heart attack and are also at greater risk of having a second heart attack. One in nine women between the ages of 45 and 64 has some form of heart disease. One in three women age 65 and older has heart disease. African-American women are 60 percent more likely to die of heart disease than white women. American women already have made remarkable progress in reducing their risk of heart attack and stroke.