ABSTRACT
Cardiovascular disease (CVD), of which coronary heart disease (CHD) is the most common, is the major cause of death in women over 60 years of age. Approximately 50% of women develop CHD in their lifetime, 30% die from the disease, and 20% develop a stroke. Yet many women still perceive CVD, particularly CHD, as a male condition, despite the fact that eventually more women than men die from the disease.1 Women generally perceive breast cancer as the commonest cause of female death, despite the fact that they have more than five times the risk of dying from CHD than from breast cancer.
