Prevalence of Risk Factors of Coronary Artery Disease among Women

IntroductIonCoronary artery disease (CAD) is the number one cause of death in adults worldwide.[1] The non-modifiable risk factors of CAD are advancing age, male gender, family history, and race.The modifiable risk factors include smoking or tobacco use, excess consumption of alcohol, inadequate fruits and vegetable consumption, physical inactivity, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, overweight, obesity, dyslipidemia, and stress. [2]In comparison with the people in European countries, the condition affects Indians at least a decade earlier and in their most productive middle age.[3] Furthermore, high prevalence of risk factors had been reported from India.[4] The INTERHEART study conclusively states the role of behavioural and conventional risk factors in the prediction of coronary heart disease risk among Indians.[5] Leading cause of death among keralites is cardiovascular diseases as by ICMR report 2017.[6] Dramatic changes in lifestyle over a period of two decades and rapid urbanization have led these growing burdens of coronary risk factors.[7] CAD is found to be the leading cause of mortality for women worldwide in both industrialized nations and developing economies.[8] The risk factors are found to be highly prevalent among women as per the studies conducted in India.[9][10][11][12] There is a need for detailed studies in younger age group to support the need for preventive cardiology at early years of life.[13]