What is Cardiovascular Disease?

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of death for men and women globally. Identifying those at risk and ensuring they receive appropriate treatment can help prevent premature death.

What are the main and well known risk factors of heart disease and stroke?

• Smoking
• Being overweight
• Lack of exercise
• Excessive alcohol
• Diabetes
• High blood pressure
• Dyslipidemia – unbalanced or unhealthy lipid levels (too high or too low cholesterol or when the balance of total and high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol is unhealthy).
• Family history of heart disease

Emerging non traditional risk factors in women are:

• Preterm delivery, hypertension and diabetes in pregnancy
• Autoimmune disease
• Breast cancer treatment
• Depression

Emerging evidence suggests that women are under treated for cardiovascular conditions

There is a general belief that women are considered less likely to suffer from cardiovascular disease, and even when diagnosed, their treatments tend to be suboptimal.

As the signs of cardiovascular disease in women can be different from those seen in men, this can lead to misdiagnosis and dismissal of symptoms as anxiety-related.