BODY WATCH : Things to Know About Women and Heart Disease

Heart disease is generally thought of as a man’s disease, but it kills more women than men each year, and is the No. 1 killer of American women. Here are other facts about women and heart disease:

* Although polls show that women think breast cancer is their biggest life threat, about five times more women--240,000--die from heart attacks annually.

* Until recently the vast majority of heart disease research was done on men.

* Although more men than women have heart attacks, they’re more lethal for women.

* Women get heart disease six to 10 years later than men, but by age 75, there are as many women as men afflicted.

* Cardiovascular disease is detected in one in seven women between the ages of 45 and 64; after 65, the ratio rises to 1 in 3.

* A decrease in the hormones estrogen and prostaglandin may be significant factors in the rise of heart attacks in women as they age.

* Women are more likely than men to have heart valve problems and cardiac arrhythmia.

* Many risk factors are the same for both sexes, including increasing age, smoking, family history of heart disease, high blood pressure and cholesterol, obesity, diabetes and a sedentary lifestyle. But researchers are finding that some factors, such as diabetes, are even more dangerous for women’s hearts than for men’s.

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* Sources: Charlotte Libov, coauthor of “The Woman’s Heart Book: The Complete Guide to Keeping Your Heart Healthy and What to Do If Things Go Wrong” (Plume, 1994); American Heart Assn., Greater Los Angeles Affiliate; National Center for Health Statistics.