ABSTRACT
Heart disease is a major factor in morbidity and mortality in both sexes. According to statistics presented by the U. S. Bureau of the Census (1991), the heart disease death rate in 1988 was 301.2 among women and 321.9 among men per 100,000 residents of the United States. Comparable rates for the other major cause of death, cancer, were 180.0 for women and 215.5 for men. Thus heart disease presents the number one health threat for both women and men. When mortality rates for coronary heart disease (CHD), the major form of heart disease, are examined, a similar pattern emerges (U. S. Bureau of the Census, 1991, pp. 83, 84). For example, of 100,000 persons in the 55- to 64-year-old age group, 147.1 women and 401.3 men died of CHD in 1988. Table 4.1 presents death rates due to CHD and the major forms of cancer in women and men. As can be seen, women's death rates for CHD and most major forms of cancer are lower than those of men. However, among women as a group, CHD is the primary cause of death.
