Get the facts - Women & Heart Disease

Facts on Women and Heart Disease Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States. In 2006, 315,930 women died from it.

1. Heart disease killed 26% of the women who died in 2006—more than one in every four.

Although heart disease is sometimes thought of as a "man's disease," around the same number of women and men die each year of heart disease in the United States. Unfortunately, 36% of women did not perceive themselves to be at risk for heart disease in a 2005 survey.

2. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women of most racial/ethnic groups in the United States, including African Americans, American Indians or Alaska Natives, Hispanics, and whites. For Asian American women, heart disease is second only to cancer.

3. In 2006, about 6.9% of all white women, 8.8% of black women, and 6.6% of Mexican American women were living with coronary heart disease.4 January, 2010

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CDC - DHDSP - Fact Sheets - Women and Heart Disease Fact Sheet * For this fact sheet, the term "heart disease" refers to several different types of heart condition.