Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in Women—2011 Update

AHA Guideline

Effectiveness-Based Guidelines for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in Women—2011 Update. A Guideline From the American Heart Association

Lori Mosca, MD, MPH, PhD, FAHA, Chair; et al.

Substantial progress has been made in the awareness, treatment, and prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in women since the first women-specific clinical recommendations for the prevention of CVD were published by the American Heart Association (AHA)in 1999.¹ The myth that heart disease is a "man's disease" has been debunked; the rate of public awareness of CVD as the leadingcause of death among US women has increased from 30% in 1997 to 54% in 2009.² The age-adjusted death rate resulting fromcoronary heart disease (CHD) in females, which accounts for about half of all CVD deaths in women, was 95.7 per 100 000 females in 2007, a third of what it was in 1980.^3,4 Approximately 50% of this decline in CHD deaths has been attributed to reducing major risk factors and the other half to treatment of CHD including secondary preventive therapies.⁴ Major randomized controlled clinical trials such as the Women's Health Initiative have changed the practice of CVD prevention in women over the past decade.⁵ The investment in combating this major public health issue for women has been significant, as have the scientific and medical achievements./.../