Women experience unique sex- and gender-related cardiovascular disease risk factors across their lifespan, including pregnancy complications, menopause, and a greater impact of traditional risk factors.
This review highlights sex- and gender-unique CVD risk factors across a woman's lifespan to reduce knowledge gaps and improve awareness and treatment strategies.
Women have unique sex- and gender-related risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) that can present or evolve over their lifespan. Pregnancy-associated conditions, polycystic ovarian syndrome, and menopause can increase a woman's risk of CVD. Women are at greater risk for autoimmune rheumatic disorders, which play a role in the predisposition and pathogenesis of CVD. The influence of traditional CVD risk factors (eg, smoking, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, physical inactivity, depression, anxiety, and family history) is greater in women than men. Finally, there are sex differences in the response to treatments for CVD risk and comorbid disease processes. In this Atlas chapter we review sex- and gender-unique CVD risk factors that can occur across a woman's lifespan, with the aim to reduce knowledge gaps and guide the development of optimal strategies for awareness and treatment.
Mulvagh et al. (2021) conducted a review in Cardiovascular disease. Women experience unique sex- and gender-related cardiovascular disease risk factors across their lifespan, including pregnancy complications, menopause, and a greater impact of traditional risk factors.