FACTS FROM THE AHA 2007 GUIDELINES:

1.  Cardiovascular disease is the single greatest cause of death among women worldwide, accounting for one-third of all deaths.

2.  In the United States and some other countries, more women than men die every year of cardiovascular disease.

3.  In the United States, 38.2 million women, or 34 percent, are living with CVD.

4.  The average lifetime risk for CVD in women is very high-approaching one in two.

5.  Even the presence of a single risk factor at 50 years of age is associated with a substantially increased lifetime risk for CVD and shorter life span.

6.  Within one year of quitting smoking, heart attack risk decreases by about 50 percent: and within 5 to 10 years of quitting, the risk is about the same as for anyone who is the same age and has never smoked.

7.  Women who smoke and use oral contraceptives greatly increase their risk of coronary heart disease and stroke compared with nonsmoking women who use oral contraceptives.