The Heart Truth for Women: It's Ageless

One in three American women dies of heart disease, making it the #1 killer. Learn how you can protect your heart health at any age.

One in three American women dies of heart disease, making it the #1 killer. That's The Heart Truth. It's also true that heart disease is "ageless." Whatever a woman's age, she needs to take action to protect her heart health.

Coronary heart disease is the most common form of heart disease. Often referred to simply as "heart disease," it develops over time and can start as early as the teenage years. During mid-life, a woman's risk for heart disease starts to rise dramatically. In part, this is because a woman's body stops producing estrogen. Also, mid-life is a time when women tend to develop factors that increase their risk for heart disease (see below). Heart disease doesn't stop developing either-unless treated, it continues to worsen. One in 14 women aged 45-64 has heart disease, and this increases to 1 in 7 for women over age 65. But it's never too late to take steps against heart disease. By taking action, older women and especially those who already have heart disease can reduce their risk of developing heart-related problems.

Often, making lifestyle changes is all that's needed. In fact, women can lower their heart disease risk by as much as 82 percent just by leading a healthy lifestyle. So, whatever your age, start taking steps to improve your heart health.

Here's more about how heart disease and its risk factors can affect women of every age:

Young Women:

• Lifestyle-related factors that increase heart disease risk are increasingly common among girls, teenagers, and young adults.
• Physical activity levels drop sharply as girls become teenagers, and about 14 percent of young women are physically inactive.
• Almost 15 percent of girls ages 6-19 are overweight.
• About 30 percent of girls in grades 9-12 reported using tobacco in 2001; about 80 percent of smokers begin before age 18.

Middle-Aged Women:

• At menopause, a woman's heart disease risk starts to increase significantly.
• Each year, about 88,000 women ages 45-64 have a heart attack.
• About half of women who have a heart attack before age 65 die within 8 years.
• Heart disease rates are 2-3 times higher for postmenopausal women than for those of the same age who have not yet undergone menopause.
• Postmenopausal hormone therapy, with estrogen alone or with progestin-once thought to lower risk-is not recommended for long-term use to prevent heart disease. It is now even more vital that women take other steps to reduce their heart disease risk.
• The lifetime risk of developing high blood pressure for women aged 55 is about 90 percent.
• Beginning at age 45, more women than men have a total cholesterol over 200 md/dL- borderline high or higher.