Heart Disease in Women

On this page

Basics

• Summary
• Start Here
• Symptoms
• Diagnosis and Tests
• Prevention and Risk Factors

Learn More

• Living With
• Related Issues
• Specifics

See, Play and Learn

• No links available

Research

• Statistics and Research
• Clinical Trials
• Journal Articles

Resources

• Reference Desk
• Find an Expert

For You

• Patient Handouts

Summary

In the United States, 1 in 4 women dies from heart disease. The most common cause of heart disease in both men and women is narrowing or blockage of the coronary arteries, the blood vessels that supply blood to the heart itself. This is called coronary artery disease, and it happens slowly over time. It's the major reason people have heart attacks.

Heart diseases that affect women more than men include

• Coronary microvascular disease (MVD) - a problem that affects the heart's tiny arteries
• Broken heart syndrome - extreme emotional stress leading to severe but often short-term heart muscle failure

The older a woman gets, the more likely she is to get heart disease. But women of all ages should be concerned about heart disease. All women can take steps to prevent it by practicing healthy lifestyle habits.

NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Start Here

• Heart Disease (Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women's Health) Also in Spanish
• Heart Health for Women (Food and Drug Administration)
• The Heart Truth (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

Symptoms

• Heart Attack Symptoms in Women (American Heart Association)

Diagnosis and Tests

• Heart Health Tests: MedlinePlus Health Topic (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish

Prevention and Risk Factors

• Heart Disease and Stroke (Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women's Health)
• Heart Disease in Women: Understand Symptoms and Risk Factors (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
• Heart Disease Risk Factors (Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women's Health) Also in Spanish
• Women and Heart Disease Prevention (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - In English and Spanish

Living With

• Calcium Supplements: A Risk Factor for Heart Attack? (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
• Healthy Recipes (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Heart Healthy Eating (Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women's Health) Also in Spanish
• Heart-Healthy Living (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

Related Issues

• CHD's Impact on Females (American Heart Association)
• Heart Conditions and Pregnancy: Know the Risks (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
• Heart Disease in Hispanic Women (American Heart Association)
• Menopause and Heart Disease (American Heart Association)

Specifics

• Heart Attack and Women (Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women's Health) Also in Spanish

Statistics and Research

• Data and Statistics: Women and Heart Disease (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Heart Disease in Women (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Role of gender, age and BMI in prognosis of heart failure.
• Article: Comprehensive treatment of microvascular angina in overweight women - a randomized...
• Article: Factors associated with implantable cardioverter defibrillators appropriate therapy in cardiac sarcoidosis:...
• Heart Disease in Women -- see more articles

Reference Desk

• How the Heart Works (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

Find an Expert

• American Heart Association
• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Patient Handouts

• Heart disease and women (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish