Cardiovascular Health and Disease in Women

. . . In January 1992, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute an invitational conference, "Cardiovascular Health and Disease in, " to highlight new information derived from epidemiologic and clinical that was appropriate for clinical application and that required wider and to identify gaps in contemporary knowledge that impeded the of optimal cardiovascular care to women. In addition to addressing issues of the cardiovascular health of women, this article summarizes recommendations of the conference. . . . Research should focus on aspects of disease that are unique to women, or areas in which comparisons women and men are unavailable or inadequate. When elderly people are in research studies, women are disproportionately excluded. should be encouraged by their physicians to participate in research; adequate diversity in terms of age, race, ethnic group, culture, and status should be present in the groups of women studied. stratification according to sex has been recommended for clinical trials to permit separate evaluation of the sexes. The inclusion of women in clinical research until very recently scrutiny to clarify whether women have been excluded from for medical reasons (such as existing illnesses) and why they not participated in research studies for which they do qualify. Few from large clinical trials are available for evaluation of the of women who did not participate in the randomized trial; such would be useful in identifying the reasons for women's and clarifying whether those women fared differently from the.