Heart Disease
Think of a heart attack victim and you’ll probably picture a middle-aged man, perhaps a little paunchy, most likely a workaholic executive type. It’s a stereotype that has been reinforced by the media and by the medical profession itself, which in the past has focused much of its research into heart disease on this type of patient.
Not Just a Man’s Disease
The facts, however, tell quite a different story. Heart disease is more than just a man’s disease—much more. One in 9 women between the ages of 45 and 64 has some form of cardiovascular disease, ranging from coronary artery disease to stroke or renal vascular disease. By the time a woman reaches 65, she has a 1 in 3 chance of developing cardiovascular disease. And a number of studies show that African American women are at even greater risk than these averages.
The reason that so much more attention has been focused on men is that they are much more likely to be stricken with heart disease in their prime middle years, whereas women tend to get it 10 to 20 years later. For most women, it is only after menopause that heart disease becomes a problem. But a woman of 60 is about as likely to get heart disease as a man of 50, and by time they are in their 70s, men and women get heart disease at equal rates.