Epidemiology and risk factors for coronary heart disease in women.

The information presented indicates that the risk factors associated with the development of coronary heart disease in women are, for the most part, the same as those identified for men. It is encouraging to note that although the prevalence of hypertension in women has not changed over the past 20 years, the proportion of treated hypertensive women has increased dramatically and the proportion with controlled blood pressure has doubled since 1960. It is also encouraging to note that the number of adult women who smoke cigarettes has decreased since 1960, but the number of young girls who smoke has increased at an alarming rate. Researchers have noted that the number of cigarettes smoked per day by women has increased from the 1950s to the present. The Framingham data reveal that serum cholesterol level increases substantially with age and that women should take steps to eat a healthy, low-saturated fat, low cholesterol diet to maintain a low blood cholesterol level. The Framingham Study data also show that although the same risk factors operate in men and women, the standard risk factors do not explain the marked differences in morbidity and mortality from heart disease between the two sexes. We must continue to study the epidemiology and biology of coronary heart disease in women both to better understand the disease process in women and to understand the large gender differential for CHD in most Westernized countries.