Sex Differences in Cardiovascular Health and Disease and Caring for a Woman’s Heart: A Public Education Forum
July 23-24, 2002-- Madison, WI

A proceeding was published following this meeting.   Visit our publications section to order a copy of this report.

In addition, the following article was published:

Sex, Hormones, and the Cardiovascular System
View a PDF copy of this article now
Stacey Fannon, Sherry Marts, Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism, October, 2002 Vol. 13 No. 8.
Order: Contact the Society at info@womenshealthresearch.org for a copy of this article.

Scientific Meeting Raises Awareness of Cardiovascular Disease,
Critical Differences Between Women and Men

Cancer is the disease American women say they fear the most, even though heart disease continues to be the nation’s leading cause of death for women and men. Heart disease and stroke took nearly double the number of female lives than cancer in 1999, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics.

A June study, commissioned by the Society for Women’s Health Research, found that less than six percent of the U.S. female population fears heart disease or stroke most, based on a survey of 1,019 women age 18 and older. Ten times that, or more than 60 percent of women, fear cancer most.

To raise awareness of the leading killer and encourage the understanding of key differences between women and men with regard to heart disease, the Society and the University of Wisconsin Medical School hosted “Sex Differences in Cardiovascular Health and Disease” on July 24 at the Monona Terrace Convention Center in Madison, Wisconsin.

“These statistics are very alarming given that heart disease continues to be the number one killer among women,” said Phyllis Greenberger, M.S.W., president and chief executive officer of the Society. “What may be even more alarming is of the small percentage that do fear heart disease most, these women may not be aware of the sex-based differences with regard to the disease. We hope these programs will raise awareness among the scientific and medical communities and the public, as well as spark interest in further research into how cardiovascular disease affects men and women differently.”

During the daylong meeting, approximately 120 researchers and clinicians from across the country discussed a variety of topics relating to sex-based biological and physiological differences with regard to cardiovascular disease. Presentations included the following:

Jacques E. Rossouw, M.D. , acting director of the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute in Bethesda, MD — Rossouw highlighted findings released in July from the WHI’s hormone replacement therapy trial using estrogen and progestin, which was terminated early because of increased risk of heart disease and breast cancer in women using the hormones. He stressed that there are a myriad of ways in which the data is now being analyzed, so the study may help identify women who are either most likely to benefit or most likely to risk harm from such therapy. In addition, Dr. Rossouw made clear that several other arms of the WHI are continuing, including estrogen only replacement therapy in women who have undergone hysterectomy since the risks and benefits of other interventions are not yet clear.

Virginia M. Miller, Ph.D. , professor of surgery and physiology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. — Changes in endothelial cells, which line the blood vessels, can lead to heart attacks, high blood pressure and organ transplantation failure. Miller focused on understanding how endothelial cells and platelets, which help blood to clot, contribute to hardening of the arteries and to a certain type of blood clot in the legs. She discussed how estrogen changes the way endothelial cells respond in women and men during various stages of life.

Richard E. White, Ph.D. , associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta — Sex steroids, such as estrogen, progesterone and testosterone, have been found to relax coronary artery smooth muscle. White discussed his work in this area and how this may explain some beneficial cardiovascular effects of these hormones.

Steven N. Ebert, Ph.D. , assistant professor of pharmacology at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C. — Torsades de pointes, a potentially fatal irregular heartbeat, is more common in women than men. The condition can arise due to congenital birth defects or be triggered by the use of certain medications. Ebert discussed his animal studies investigating the biological basis for sex differences in torsades de pointes and the hypothesis that testosterone plays a protective role.

Other presentations focused on cholesterol trafficking; recent cardiovascular clinical trials focusing on women and areas needing more research; sex differences in heart failure in older adults; and the effects of exercise on hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a severe genetic heart disease that is the leading cause of sudden death in young athletes and is more common in women than men.

Sue Ann Thompson, president of the Wisconsin Women’s Health Foundation (WWHF), opened the meeting as a special guest speaker. Thompson spoke about the important role clinicians and researchers play in keeping Wisconsin women and their families healthy. The WWHF continues to work to meet the ongoing need for more research and funding in women’s health.

“Sex differences occur at every level and as researchers and clinicians it is incumbent upon all of us to discover how these differences translate into cardiovascular health and disease in women,” said Pamela S. Douglas, M.D., section head of cardiovascular medicine and a professor of medicine at the University of Wisconsin, who provided an overview of sex differences in cardiovascular health and disease.

The scientific meeting was held as a satellite symposium of the International Society for Heart Research’s annual meeting. The Society is sponsoring regional Scientific Advisory Meetings in response to the April 2001 Institute of Medicine report, “Exploring the Biological Contributions to Human Health: Does Sex Matter?” that validated the Society’s message that biologic sex matters when it comes to health. Meetings are being held across the country to educate scientists, health care providers and the public about important sex-based biological differences relating to a variety of diseases and developmental processes.

The conference was made possible by generous unrestricted educational grants from The Guidant Foundation, GlaxoSmithKline, and Pharmacia Corporation and additional support from the Office of Research on Women’s Health, National Institutes of Health, and the Institutes of Circulatory and Respiratory Health (ICRH) and of Gender and Health (IGH), Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

Last updated: July 14, 2004