Contrary to the myth that it is a man s disease, cardiovascular disease actually kills 43,000 more women than men each year. Although more women than men die from cardiovascular disease, virtually all randomized controlled trials on risk and treatment have focused on men and the majority of cardiovascular procedures are conducted on men. July 1994 and American Heart Association. Heart disease in women often goes undetected and untreated until the disease has become severe. Stroke is the leading cause of severe disability in the U.S. for both women and men and is associated with approximately 15 billion dollars of medical costs each year.
Women die more often as a result of stroke than men do.
Lung cancer is the number one cancer killer of American women today. If current trends continue, the death rate among women from smoking-related diseases will exceed that of men by early next century. Teenage women now smoke at higher rates than their male counterparts. Studies show doctors are more apt to give stop-smoking messages to male patients than to women, although such advice greatly increases the likelihood of quitting. Despite decades of cancer research, relatively little is known about risk and prevention of breast cancer.