ABSTRACT
Cardiovascular disease respects no boundaries. Although still more common in men, it is the leading cause of death and disability in women in the developed and developing countries.1-3 In Europe cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the cause of death in 43 percent of men and 55 percent of women. Stroke is more commonly fatal in women than men (18 percent vs. 11 percent, respectively) whereas coronary artery disease (CAD) death rates are similar (23 percent vs. 21 percent, respectively). Therefore, CVD causes more deaths than all cancers added together and clearly exceeds death from one of women’s greatest fears, breast cancer, at 3 percent (Table 14.1). In the United Kingdom in 2002 CAD was the cause in 64 000 out of 288 000 deaths in men (22 percent or 1 in 5) and in 53 000 of 318 000 deaths in women (17 percent or 1: 6).4 In the United States CAD causes 240 000 deaths annually among women – 1:3 women.5 Expressed in a tabloid but effective way – and the message needs to be expressed clearly – in the United Kingdom and Europe CVD causes 1 woman to die every 6 minutes and in the United States 1 every minute.
