The role of nutrition in the prevention of coronary heart disease in women of the developed world.

Cardiovascular disease claims more than 500,000 women per year, making this disease the number one killer of women. Coronary heart disease in developed countries can be used as a representative classification when discussing cardiovascular disease management. Within the last 10 years research has illuminated the contributing risk factors and disease progression as they uniquely relate to women. Yet, current approaches to the prevention of primary risk factors in the development of cardiovascular disease fail to reach the potential described in scientific literature. Traditional prescriptions relied on hormone therapy or pharmacologic intervention to manage coronary heart diseases ignoring the non-hormonal aspects of cardiovascular health. Recent trends have begun to emphasize diet as a tool for the prevention of heart disease in women. This review attempts to highlight nutrition as a prescription that can be utilized to reduce the significant risk factors that women, who live in developed nations, face throughout their lifetime.