Hemostatic factors and risk of cardiovascular disease in women. An overview.

This report presents an overview of epidemiologic and clinical studies on the relationship between plasma levels of hemostatic factors and risk of cardiovascular disease in women. In addition, research on an association between hemostatic factor levels and gender, as well as estrogen status, is briefly reviewed. Only the Framingham Heart Study has published prospective results showing elevated fibrinogen levels to be associated with excess risk of coronary heart disease among women. However, taken together, the evidence to date from epidemiologic and clinical studies suggests potentially important hemostatic effects of aging, gender, and sex hormone levels on risk of cardiovascular disease in women.