♥ 1 of every 3 women in the US dies of heart disease compared to 1 of 30 dying of breast cancer. Heart disease kills more women than all cancers combined.

♥ Your chance of surviving a heart attack is highest if you are treated within 1 hour of symptom onset. Most women wait 2 hours or more to seek help which lessens their chance of survival.

♥ Risk factors are similar for men and women but high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and smoking are particularly strong risk factors for women.

♥ Hormone replacement therapy appears to increase a woman’s risk of heart disease and stroke. Hormone replacement therapy should be stopped if a cardiovascular event occurs.

♥ Risk factors have a multiplier effect on heart disease risk. 2 risk factors increases risk 4 fold; while 3 risk factors increase it 10 fold.

♥ One heart disease risk factor is found in 1/3 of women ages 40 –60. Another third have two risk factors and 1 in 5 women have 3 or more risk factors.

♥ Women with heart disease are less likely to have typical chest pain but are more likely to have symptoms like: severe weakness and extreme fatigue; pain in the jaw, back, or neck; shortness of breath; nausea and vomiting.

♥ Men’s plaque builds up in clumps whereas women’s distributes more evenly through artery walls. This can result in women’s angiograms appearing "normal".

♥ Diagnosing heart disease in women is more difficult than it is in men. The best approach to diagnosis in women remains to be determined.

♥ Treatments for heart disease appear to be equally as effective in women as in men. Women do appear to have higher complication rates for invasive treatments than men.