Women and Heart Disease
Women and Heart Disease
Diagnosing and managing women who are at risk or have known coronary heart disease (CHD) continues to be a challenge, despite advancing imaging technologies and recent public awareness campaigns. This challenge persists as a result of many contributing factors that all too often go unrecognized. The aim of this article is to establish the extent and possible causes of gender disparities related to CHD and explore 2 obstacles of diagnosing women with or at risk: subclinical coronary disease and noninvasive diagnostic imaging.
More women in the United States die from cardiovascular disease (CVD) than men do. In 2007, coronary heart disease (CHD) was the number 1 killer of women in all age groups. Nearly 1 in 3 women die from CHD, compared to nearly 1 in 5 from cancer. Although women develop CHD later in their lives, women younger than 65 are also twice as likely to die from an acute myocardial infarction (MI) compared to men with comparable age and risk factors. In fact, over 9,000 US women under 45 had an MI in 2009. Early diagnosis increases the probability that a woman with CHD will have positive treatment outcomes and live longer.
Early diagnosis of CHD in women is difficult when many providers are unaware of the risk of a CHD death in their female patients. In reality, 38.2 million US women (34%) are living with some form of CVD. The population of women at risk is even larger. Advanced imaging technologies have given providers a wide range of diagnostic modes to determine CHD in women. However, accuracy and limitations of stress testing in women remain areas of significant confusion.
The aim of this article is to establish the extent and possible causes of gender disparities related to CHD and explore 2 obstacles to diagnosing women with or at risk for heart disease: subclinical coronary disease and noninvasive diagnostic imaging.
Abstract and Introduction
Abstract
Diagnosing and managing women who are at risk or have known coronary heart disease (CHD) continues to be a challenge, despite advancing imaging technologies and recent public awareness campaigns. This challenge persists as a result of many contributing factors that all too often go unrecognized. The aim of this article is to establish the extent and possible causes of gender disparities related to CHD and explore 2 obstacles of diagnosing women with or at risk: subclinical coronary disease and noninvasive diagnostic imaging.
Introduction
More women in the United States die from cardiovascular disease (CVD) than men do. In 2007, coronary heart disease (CHD) was the number 1 killer of women in all age groups. Nearly 1 in 3 women die from CHD, compared to nearly 1 in 5 from cancer. Although women develop CHD later in their lives, women younger than 65 are also twice as likely to die from an acute myocardial infarction (MI) compared to men with comparable age and risk factors. In fact, over 9,000 US women under 45 had an MI in 2009. Early diagnosis increases the probability that a woman with CHD will have positive treatment outcomes and live longer.
Early diagnosis of CHD in women is difficult when many providers are unaware of the risk of a CHD death in their female patients. In reality, 38.2 million US women (34%) are living with some form of CVD. The population of women at risk is even larger. Advanced imaging technologies have given providers a wide range of diagnostic modes to determine CHD in women. However, accuracy and limitations of stress testing in women remain areas of significant confusion.
The aim of this article is to establish the extent and possible causes of gender disparities related to CHD and explore 2 obstacles to diagnosing women with or at risk for heart disease: subclinical coronary disease and noninvasive diagnostic imaging.
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