Cardiovascular disease in women: an update

Between the years 1979 and 1981, Louisiana ranked 7th in average annual coronary heart disease (CHD) death rate among white women and 6th among black women, age 35 to 74 years. Nationally, death in women due to CHD is 250,000 deaths per year, mainly in women over 50 years of age. That is approximately one half of all deaths due to heart disease in the United States. Risk factors for CHD in women are those which are shared with men, eg, smoking, hypertension, plasma lipoprotein concentrations, obesity, diabetes, and family history, and those which apply solely to women, eg, contraceptive use, menopause, and postmenopausal hormones. The purpose of this manuscript is to review current knowledge regarding CHD in women.