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 February 2007 Back to Table of Contents Back to Archives Main Page Section: Being Well These are the facts: General Heart Disease and Stroke Facts About Women • Heart disease and stroke are the No. 1 and No. 3 killers of women over the age of 25. • Heart attack, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases claim the lives of nearly half a million women each year — about a death a minute. That’s more lives than the next seven causes of death combined, and nearly twice as many as all forms of cancer, including breast cancer. • Of the women who die, one in 30 die of breast cancer. About one out of every 2.5 women die of heart disease, stroke or other cardiovascular diseases. • One in five females in the United States has some form of cardiovascular disease. • Every year since 1984 more women than men have died of heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases. The difference in deaths currently is more than 66,000 per year. • 64 percent of women who died suddenly of coronary heart disease had no previous symptoms of this disease. • Of the total number of U.S. deaths in 2001 from heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases, women represented 53.6 percent of all deaths and men represented 46.4 percent.
• Coronary heart disease rates in women after menopause are two to three times those of women the same age before menopause. • Within six years after a recognized heart attack: 35 percent of women will have another heart attack, 14 percent will develop chest pain, 11 percent will have a stroke, 46 percent will be disabled with heart failure, and six percent will experience sudden cardiac death. • At older ages, women who have heart attacks are more likely than men to die from them within a few weeks. After the first heart attack, studies show that 38 percent of women die within a year compared to 25 percent of men, because women tend to be older and sicker when they have heart attacks. • Stroke is the No. 3 cause of death for American women, behind heart disease and cancer. It is a leading cause of serious, long-term disability. • Overall, more women than men die of stroke. In 2001, more than 100,000 females died from stroke, which represents over 61 percent of the deaths from stroke. • 25 percent of women who have an initial stroke die within a year. This percentage increases among women 65 and older. • 53 percent of women under the age of 65 who have a stroke die within eight years. Sources: American Heart Association Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics – 2004 Update and American Heart Association Biostatistical Fact Sheet, “Women and Cardiovascular Disease.” back to top back to table of contents Current Issue | About Forever Young | Where to Find | Advertise | Our Advertisers | Community Calendar | Contest | Clubs | Contact Us | Archives | Home |
