Women: Heart Disease Facts

Incidence and Prevalence

Heart attacks kill more American women than any other disease. Women account for almost half of the 500,000 heart attack deaths each year in the United States.

One in 26 women will die from breast cancer; one of two women will die from cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular disease has claimed the lives of more women than men every year since 1984.

Men have more heart attacks than women and often have them earlier in life, but women have less of a chance to survive a heart attack.

Forty-four percent of women will die within one year of having a heart attack, compared with 27 percent of men.

Controllable Risk Factors

Smoking

Obesity

Elevated lipid levels

High blood pressure

Physical inactivity

Stress

Alcohol excess

Uncontrollable Risk Factors

Increasing age

Sex (male gender)

Heredity

Statistics from the American Heart Association.

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