What are different risk factors for cardiovascular disease in men and women?

Women and men have essentially the same risk factors for cardiovascular disease, a major international study, the first of its kind to include people not only from high-income countries, but also from low- and middle-income countries where the burden of cardiovascular disease is greatest, has found.

The results of the study were published in The Lancet.

The global study assessed risk factors including metabolic (such as high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes), behavioral (smoking and diet) and psychosocial (economic status and depression) in about 156,000 people with no history of cardiovascular disease between the ages of 35 and 70. They lived in 21 low-, middle-, and high-income countries on five continents and were followed for an average of 10 years.

Overall, the women's risk of developing cardiovascular disease was lower than men's, especially at a younger age.

However, diet appeared to be more strongly associated with cardiovascular disease risk in women than in men, "which has not been previously described and requires independent confirmation," the study authors noted. 

High levels of bad (LDL) cholesterol and symptoms of depression were more strongly associated with cardiovascular disease risk in men than in women, the researchers concluded. These results were generally similar in high-income and upper-middle-income countries, as well as in low-income and lower-middle-income countries.

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