Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in Women.

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains a leading cause of mortality in women, necessitating innovative primary prevention strategies. Contemporary guidelines on primary prevention of CVD highlight the increasing prevalence of CVD risk factors and emphasize the significance of female-specific risk enhancers that substantially augment the future risk of CVD. These risk factors occur throughout a woman's life cycle, such as hormonal contraception, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, and menopause, all of which confer an added layer of risk in women beyond the conventional risk factors. Despite this, current methods may not fully capture the nuanced vulnerabilities in women that increase their risk of CVD. In this review, we highlight gender-specific risk enhancers and subsequent prevention as well as strategies to improve primary prevention of CVD in women.