Coronary heart disease (CHD) has been the leading cause of mortality worldwide for over 25 years and was estimated to be the cause of 17% of deaths globally in 2016. Death rates from CHD are considerably lower in women than in men at younger ages, but often converge with increasing age. Male-to-female coronary mortality rate ratios are typically around in middle age and thereafter in the Interheart case-control study, women had their first myocardial infarction (MI) on average nine years later than men.
In addition to later presentation, men and women can have different symptoms, treatments, and outcomes of MI, some of which may be because of the effects and prevalence of risk factors. Several large scale meta-analyses have compared the sex specific associations between risk factors and CHD. Although the incidence of MI was higher in men than in women, several risk factors were more…
