Protecting older women from their growing risk of cardiac disease.

Heart disease is the leading cause of mortality and a major cause of morbidity in women in the United States. Premenopausal and postmenopausal risk factors for cardiac disease must be reduced to protect women from this major health hazard. The main coronary risk factors for premenopausal women are hypertension, smoking, hyperlipidemia, obesity, and diabetes. Postmenopausal women have these risk factors in addition to a lack of estrogen. Most studies have shown that replacing estrogen in the menopausal woman reduces cardiovascular disease, probably by increasing HDL and decreasing LDL.