The Facts
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death among women across all racial and ethnic groups in Wisconsin. Cardiovascular disease refers to a variety of diseases and conditions that affect the heart and blood vessels, such as heart attack (coronary heart disease), high blood pressure (hypertension), and brain attack (stroke).
Supporting Statistics
- It is the largest single cause of death among women, accounting for 38% of all female deaths.
- The risk of dying of CVD is nearly 1 in 3 for women.
- A large proportion of women incorrectly think they are more likely to die of cancer.
- Heart disease and stroke claimed 8,371 Wisconsin women's lives in 2005.
- In general, CVD cost every man, woman, and child in Wisconsin more than $1,350 in 2005.
- Heart attacks are more deadly in women than in men. A staggering 42% of women who have heart attacks do not survive for another (versus only 24% of male heart attack victims).
- Coronary heart disease rates in women after menopause are 2-3 times those of women the same age before menopause.
- Smoking doubles the risk of experiencing a heart attack.
- CVD can present differently in women, causing women and their physicians to be inattentive to signals of serious threat. Only about one third of doctors talk to their women patients about CVD.
- There have been several media campaigns over the last couple of years debunking the myth that CVD is a man's disease, however, women still do not comprehend that they are at great risk for dying from CVD.
- Postmenopausal women with heart disease and diabetes have triple the risk of heart failure.
- Nearly all women are at risk for CVD, underscoring the importance of a heart-healthy lifestyle in everyone.
