Epidemiology of cardiovascular diseases in women in Europe.

Cardiovascular diseases, defined as diseases of the heart and circulatory system are the main cause of mortality, morbidity and hospitalisation in women all over Europe. Evaluation of descriptive epidemiology of cardiovascular disease and its risk factors in the European women cannot ignore the extraordinary changes in the economic and political profile of the continent that occurred in the past 20 years. A keynote is requested by the knowledge that the Eastern female populations currently appear to be the less protected from cardiovascular disease (CVD; both coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke) and its risk factors and require major efforts in public health for both primary prevention and risk factors and events treatment. Another important piece of information is that the traditional geographical differences in CHD indicating an advantage of Southern European women in comparison with other European ones is less evident than in the past, owing to the levelling off regarding the differences in risk factors associated lifestyles. The figures for prevalence of epidemic risk factors, such as smoking, physical inactivity, overweight and obesity, high blood pressure and cholesterol levels indicate an urgent need to implement public health interest as well as investments on the whole spectrum of CVD manifestations in terms of risk factors and events.