Sex Differences in Cardiac Diseases - Chapter 1: Introduction: Past, Present, and Future of Heart Disease in Men and Women

Elsevier, Sex Differences in Cardiac Diseases, Pathophysiology, Presentation, Diagnosis and Management, 2021, Pages 3-6
Authors: 
Nanette K. Wenger

For most of the 20th century, cardiovascular disease was addressed as a problem for men, with coronary disease and myocardial infarction the foremost morbid and mortal problems. Women were widely considered protected from heart disease (absent evidence-based data) by their hormones in the premenopausal years and by the subsequent widespread application of menopausal hormone therapy. This chapter recalls the past, present and future of heart disease in men and women.