Q&A with Dr. James Rippe: Women's Heart Health

Heart Disease in Women

Dr. James Rippe

With more than 450,000 women dying from it each year, heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States. More women die of heart disease than men. The lifetime risk of heart disease in women is six times greater than the risk of dying of breast cancer. After menopause, the risk of dying of heart disease increases tenfold.

Healthy lifestyles, which include increased physical activity and increased fiber consumption, have been shown to significantly reduce the risk of heart disease in women. A recent Nurses Health Study article showed that positive health-promoting behaviors can prevent 80 percent of all heart disease in women.

Here, Dr. James Rippe, renowned cardiologist and leader in modern linkages between health and lifestyle, answers key questions about your heart health. Dr. Rippe is coauthor of Fitness Walking for Women, Heart Disease for Dummies, and The Healthy Heart Cookbook for Dummies, and editor of Irwin and Rippe's Intensive Care Medicine. He is also the director and founder of the Rippe Health Assessment at Celebration Health and the Rippe Lifestyle Institute in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts.