Coronary disease: are there gender differences?

Prevalence rates from hypertensive heart disease are higher for women, while men have higher prevalence rates for coronary heart disease. Female gender is associated with increased mortality after acute MI. Females have also been shown to respond differently to men to a host of approaches to CHD. Both surgical and pharmacological interventions appear to be less effective in females than in males. Answers are still needed, but they have not been forthcoming because, in general, inadequate numbers of females were included in most applicable clinical trials. It may be that males are over-treated rather than that females are under-treated. It is incorrect to extrapolate findings in men to women, given the differences. Studies are needed to determine what intervention strategies in the primary prevention and treatment of coronary disease should be used for women and the elderly.