WOMEN AND HEART DISEASE

IMPACT ON WOMEN

• 23% of women ≥45 years of age and 18% of men ≥45 years of age will die within one year of a first recognized heart attack; 47% of women and 36% of men heart attack survivors will die within five years.1
• Following a heart attack, 22% of women >45 years of age and 16% of men >45 years of age will be diagnosed with heart failure within five years.1
• 64% of women and 50% of men who die suddenly from CHD had no previous symptoms of this disease.2
• For women <55 years of age, mortality rates are showing no signs of decline.3
• After a heart attack, women are less likely than men to participate in cardiac rehabilitation. 4

MORE FATAL THAN ANY OTHER DISEASE

• Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death ofAmerican women. It is responsible for one in 3 female deaths in the U.S. 1
• CVD caused approximately 1 death every 1 minute and 20 seconds among women in 2013. That represents approximately the same number of female lives claimed by cancer, chronic lower respiratory diseases and diabetes combined.1
• 398,086 deaths in American women are caused by CVD each year.1
• 50,742 women die each year from heart attacks.1

WHO IS AT RISK?

• Cigarette smokers are 2 to 4 times more likely to develop heart disease than non-smokers.5
• 44.9% of women have total cholesterol of at least 200mg/dL.1
• 31.7% of women do not engage in leisure time physical activity.1
• 61.2% of Caucasian women, 81.9% of African-American women, and 76.3% of Mexican-American women are overweight or obese.1
• Women with diabetes have a 2.5-fold higher risk for developing CVD compared to women who do
  not have diabetes, and men with diabetes have a 2.4-hold higher risk for developing CVD compared
  to men who do not have diabetes; women with diabetes and CVD have a 2.2-fold higher risk of dying
  from CVD compared to women who do not have these two conditions; men with diabetes and CVD
  have a 1.7-fold increased risk of dying from CVD compared to men who do not have these two
  conditions.1

REFERENCES:

1. Mozaffarian, Dariush, MD, DrPH, FAHA, Benjamin, Emelia J., MD, ScM, FAHA, Go, Alan S., MD, et. al. Heart Disease and Stroke
   Statistics 2016 Update: A Report from theAmerican Heart Association Statistics Committee and Stroke Statistics Subcommittee.
   Circulation 2016. Pages 42, 79, 94, 113, 148, 151, 258, 261, and 262.
2. Thom, Thomas, Haase, Nancy, Rosamond, Wayne, PhD et. al. Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics 2006 Update: A Report from the American Heart Association Statistics Subcommittee. Circulation 2006.
3. Wilmot, Kobina A., MD, O’Flaherty, Martin, MD, PhD, MSc, et. al., Coronary Heart Disease Mortality Declines in the United States
   from 1979 Through 2011. Circulation 2015; 132: 997-1002
4. Sanderson, BK, Shewchuk, RM, Bittner, V, Cardiac rehabilitation and women: what keeps them away? Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation and Prevention, January-February 2010.
5. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention fact sheet: “Health Effects of Cigarette Smoking,” updated October 1, 2015.

Available online at:
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/health_effects/effects_cig_smoking/ 1