Heart Disease in Women

A paucity of published texts on heart disease in women exists despite the fact that cardiovascular disease represents the most common cause of death in women throughout the world irrespective of the levels of household income and social status and more women die from it than men. Also alarming are the misperceptions prevalent among both the lay public and the medical professionals that cardiovascular disease, especially coronary heart disease, is an uncommon entity in women and this often leads to reduced surveillance and misdiagnosis or delay in diagnosis with consequent undermanagement and undertreatment. This book focuses on all aspects of heart disease in women, discusses all the recent relevant information available in the literature and attempts to dispel the existing misconceptions. The book, therefore, serves to fill an important existing void and by enhancing the awareness of cardiovascular disease in women could encourage more vigorous efforts for both primary and secondary prevention by various local, national and international agencies and organizations. The book consists of 34 chapters written by several nationally and internationally renowned physicians, scientists and cardiologists. It is organized into eight sections dealing with prevention, risk factors, coronary heart disease, non-invasive testing, heart failure, cardiomyopathy, pericarditis, arrhythmias and sudden death, rheumatic heart disease, valvular heart disease, peripheral arterial disease, pregnancy and congenital heart disease. A special chapter provides an update on recent literature on heart disease in women.