Incidence and mortality of cardiovascular disease in postmenopausal women world-wide and relevance for preventive strategies

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Abstract
World-wide, cardiovascular disease is mainly seen as a male problem, whereas breast cancer is considered to be the most important chronic disease in women. However, cardiovascular disease is the largest single cause of death also in women, accounting for approximately one-third of the mortality, while breast cancer is responsible for less than 5% of the mortality. Physicians and women are equally unaware of these numbers. From a public health viewpoint, morbidity might be even more important, given the fact that therapeutic strategies have improved in the last decades, and disease fatality has been decreasing. In this contribution, the mortality and disability-adjusted life-years of cardiovascular disease world-wide will be summarized, and the relevance for prevention and the specific issues relevant to postmenopausal women will be discussed.