Coronary Artery Disease, a major challenge to women than men

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death among women, regardless of race or ethnicity, accounting for deaths of 1 in 3 women. Heart disease remains the number one killer of women and that makes it a serious threat to all women. A greater proportion of women (52 percent) than men (42 percent) with myocardial infarction die of sudden cardiac death before reaching the hospital. The Interhead Study revealed that women have their first presentation of coronary heart disease approximately 10 years later than men, most commonly after menopause.

Despite this delay in onset, mortality from coronary heart disease is increasing more rapidly among women than men. Most people know that post-menopausal women and smokers are at risk for heart disease, and that having diabetes, and high cholesterol and blood pressure, can be contributing factors. Prior to the fifth decade of life,…