Evidence-Based Medicine in the Assessment of Women at Risk for Cardiovascular Disease

The diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in women is perhaps one of the greatest clinical dilemmas in medicine. Coronary heart disease (CHD), including congestive heart failure (CHF), hypertensive disease, and other forms of atherosclerotic diseases, is an all-encompassing challenge that is a major cause of death and disability for women in most Westernized countries. The lifetime risk of coronary disease is substantial with approximately one in four women being at risk (1). Although CVD is manifested earlier for men, nearly 250,000 women die from ischemic heart disease every year. As a result of greater longevity, further growth in the number of deaths is anticipated (2).