The Best Defense is Knowledge

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BY DR. KATHY MAGLIATO

Director, Women’s Cardiac Surgical Services

Saint John’s Medical Center

Do you know the important statistics regarding women and heart disease? Learn more.

1. 2.5 million women are hospitalized for cardiovascular disease each year;

2. More women than men die from heart disease and yet most people believe that heart disease is a disease of men. 500,000 women died last year from cardiovascular disease compared to 446,000 men;

3. 1 in 2.4 women will die of heart disease;

4. Every 30 seconds, a women dies of cardiovascular disease in the United States;

5. 4% of women die of breast cancer and 44% of women die of heart disease and yet if you ask 100 women – “what is the most common killer of women?”- 90 or more will say “breast cancer”;

6. More women die of heart disease than breast cancer at ALL ages. Heart disease is not just a disease of old women. Even at the ages of 25 to 44, which is the age that women most commonly get breast cancer, more women still die of heart disease in this age group.