Heart disease is the leading cause of death in both men and women, although men have a higher risk for heart disease and heart attacks than women. The higher rate might be explained by the higher frequency of risk factors for heart disease in men, and the protective effects of estrogen in women before menopause.
Statistics
The Framingham Heart Study, a project of the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute and Boston University, shows that men have a greater risk for heart disease at all ages compared to women. The risk for both sexes increases with age. For example, the risk that an average man aged 60 to 64 will experience coronary disease in the next 10 years is 21 percent, compared to 12 percent for an average woman. At younger ages, the difference is more pronounced: between the ages of 40 to 44, men are more than three times more likely than women to suffer serious coronary heart disease within the next 10 years.
Risk Factors
Along with being male, the Framingham Heart Study lists several other independent risk factors for heart disease, including high blood pressure and unhealthy cholesterol levels. For both of these risk factors, there is a gender difference, with men more likely than women to experience the risk factor and to have a higher risk at a younger age. Over time, exposure to high blood pressure and high cholesterol strains the heart and heightens the risk for heart disease. Because men have a higher cumulative risk, they are more likely to suffer heart disease.
Blood Pressure
According to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, men are more likely than women to have high blood pressure. Compared to men, women are more likely to be aware of their blood pressure and more likely to follow their doctor's recommendations when they do have high blood pressure.
Cholesterol
The National Heart Lung and Blood Institute describes differences in cholesterol levels between men and women that might predispose men to more heart disease, and heart disease at a younger age, compared to women. Until the age of about 55, women have lower levels of low-density lipoprotein or LDL, the "bad" cholesterol, corresponding with their lower risk of heart disease. Not only do men have higher levels of "bad" cholesterol, from the time of puberty, they also have lower levels of high-density lipoprotein or HDL, the "good" cholesterol.
Estrogen
Scientists speculate that high estrogen levels in young women might protect them from heart disease. Women who have normal levels of estrogen rarely suffer heart attacks, according to Dr. Kolovou and colleagues in their May 2010 paper in "Current Vascular Pharmacology," women have three to fives times lower risk of heart attack than men. Estrogen probably inhibits the formation of plaques in the blood vessels that cause atherosclerosis, a leading risk factor for heart disease.
