Heart Disease: No. 1 Killer of U.S. Women

So you think cardiovascular disease is a guy thing?

Fact is, it’s epidemic in women as well as in men, but a main difference between the sexes is when coronary heart disease strikes, according to the American Heart Assn.

Coronary heart disease takes almost a decade longer to show up in women. By then, a woman is more concerned with other health problems--cancer, osteoporosis, arthritis--and tends to overlook heart disease and stroke.

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Here are other facts on cardiovascular disease and women:

* Coronary heart disease is the No. 1 killer of American women.

* More than one in five women has some form of cardiovascular disease.

* Since 1984, the number of cardiovascular disease deaths for women has exceeded those for men.

* In the United States, all cardiovascular diseases combined claim more women’s lives than the next 16 causes of death combined.

* Nearly 20,000 women younger than 65 die of coronary heart disease each year; more than 31% are younger than 55.

* In 63% of women who died suddenly of coronary heart disease, there was no previous evidence of the disease.

* At older ages, women are more likely to die of heart attacks within a few weeks than older men. Studies show that 44% of women die within a year after a heart attack compared with 27% of men because the women are older and sicker when they have heart attacks.

* 1995 death rates from cardiovascular diseases were 67% higher for African American women than for white women--127.5 deaths per 100,000 for whites compared with 213.2 deaths per 100,000 for blacks.

* Stroke is the third-leading cause of death for American women, behind coronary heart disease and cancer.

* Stroke is the leading cause of serious, long-term disability.

* In 1995, more than 96,000 women died of stroke.

Source: American Heart Assn.

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February is American Heart Month. For more information:

* American Heart Assn.: (800) AHA-USA1. Web site: https://www.americanheart.org. General information, free educational material.

* American Heart Assn.: (888) MY-HEART. Educational material specific to women’s heart disease and stroke issues.