Coronary Artery Disease in Young Women: The Menstrual Cycle and Other Risk Factors

Coronary artery disease is the leading cause of deathin men and in women (1), and over the past several years, increasing medical attention has been given to coronary artery disease in women. The differences be-tween women and men in the presentation and natural history of coronary artery disease are multiple. Coronary artery disease generally presents at least 10 years later in women than in men. Angina is typically the first clinical symptom in women, whereas myocardial infarction is usually the first clinical symptom in men (1). Unfortu-nately, U.S. women still are more concerned about their risk for breast cancer than their risk for heart disease (2). The National Myocardial Infarction Registry 2 (3) revealed that whereas U.S. men were more likely than women to have a myocardial infarction before 50 years of age, women’s risk for death after admission wa