Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in American women, claiming nearly 500,000 lives each year.

Women are the victims of half of the fatal heart attacks each year.

In 1995, over 18,000 Illinois women died from heart disease, while over 5,000 Illinois women died from cerebral vascular disease.

One in nine women between the ages of 45 and 64 has some form of cardiovascular disease. The ratio climbs to one in three women age 65 and older.

After menopause, a woman's risk of heart attack steadily increases.

Cardiovascular disease affects the heart and blood vessel system. Included are coronary artery disease, a disease of the heart's blood vessels that causes heart attacks; high blood pressure, also called hypertension; and stroke and angina, or chest pain.

Certain groups of women are at greater risk than others. The death rate from heart attacks among African American women ages 35 to 74 is one and one-half times greater than that of Caucasian women and three times greater than that of women of other races in the same age group.

African American women are 24 percent more likely to die of coronary artery disease, and their death rate for stroke is 83 percent higher than Caucasian women. After age 75, death rates for Caucasian women are higher.

The better an understanding a woman has regarding the interactions between age, race, nutrition, physical activity, tobacco use, estrogen and heart disease, the sooner she can take an active role in prevention.