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Heart disease affects more women than men

Category: Heart Health and Cholesterol

Cholesterol testing may benefit women with severe angina, as a new study has found that women with the condition are significantly more likely to develop coronary artery disease (CAD) than men are.

Angina is a condition that is marked by chest pain caused by a lack of oxygen-rich blood making it to the heart. Individuals with high cholesterol often suffer from angina, which marks an elevated risk of heart disease.

Researchers from McMaster University in Canada examined the medical records of 23,771 heart patients who had recently been referred to a specialist. They found that women over age 60 were 21 percent more likely to develop CAD than men.

Catherine Kreatsoulas, who led the study, said that the popular perception of heart disease as a problem faced by men makes it difficult to relate to women the importance of making healthy lifestyle choices.

"More women die from CAD than breast [cancer] every year," she said. "Despite this, there is still a persistent perception that coronary artery disease is a man's disease. CAD is the leading cause of ill health and death in men and women in the western world."