Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the numberone killer of women, as well as men, in the
United States.
More than one in three American women today has some form of CVD,1, 2 anumbrella term that includes coronary artery disease (often referred to as “coronary heart disease”), cerebrovascular disease, peripheral artery disease, rheumatic heart disease, congenital heart disease, deep vein thrombosis, and pulmonary embolism.
In 2008, CVD was responsible for the death of more women in the United States than all forms of cancer, chronic lower respiratory disease, and Alzheimer’s disease combined.2 Whereas one in 31 women died of breast cancer, one in three died from CVD.