This fact sheet touches upon a few of the diseases and conditions that adversely affect women. Our aim is to highlight several of the alarming gaps in knowledge which make effective prevention, treatment, and cure impossible. Our goal is to bring much needed attention and resources to women's health research.

	Women account for 52% of the U.S. population.
	Women make three-fourths of the health care decisions in American households and spend almost two of every three health care dollars, approximately $500 billion annually.
	Over 59% of physician visits are made by women, 59% of prescription drugs are purchased by women, and 75% of nursing home residents over the age of 75 are women.

Cardiovascular Disease:

	Heart disease is the number one killer of U.S. women (58% of all deaths); death rates are highest for women of color. Click here to learn more about health conditions concerning African-American woman
	Among Native American women age 18 and older, 61.4 percent have one or more cardiovascular disease risk factors-hypertension, current cigarette smoking, high blood cholesterol, obesity or diabetes. Click here to learn more about health conditions concerning Native American women.
	Women who are diagnosed with heart disease are typically ten years older and sicker than men with the same condition; a marked increase in incidence is observed after menopause.
	Heart disease in women often goes undetected and untreated until the disease has become severe. As a result, 39% of women who have heart attacks die within one year compared to 31% of men.
	Hypertension -- a major risk factor in cardiovascular disease -- is two to three times more common in women than men and highest among African-American women. Drugs to treat hypertension have been tested primarily on white male populations. Click here to learn more about health conditions concerning African-American woman

Lung Cancer:

	Lung cancer is the number one cancer killer of American women today.
	If current trends continue, the death rate among women from smoking-related diseases will exceed that of men by early next century. Teenage women now smoke at higher rates than their male counterparts.
	Smoking lowers a woman's estrogen level and increases her risk for early menopause, pregnancy complications, and having a low-birth-weight baby.
	Studies show doctors are more apt to give stop-smoking messages to male patients than to women, although such advice greatly increases the likelihood of quitting.

Breast Cancer:

	Options for breast cancer treatment -- surgery, radiation and/or chemotherapy -- have not appreciably changed over the last 30 years.
	In 1996, approximately 184,300 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed, and 44,300 women are expected to die from this disease.
	1 in 8 women in the United States will develop breast cancer during her lifetime.
	Although heart disease is the leading cause of death in women in the United States, breast cancer is the leading cause of death in women between the ages of 40 and 55.
	Hispanic women are the only racial/ethnic group for which the mortality rate for breast cancer is higher than for lung cancer. Click here to learn more about health conditions concerning Hispanic women.

Ovarian, Cervical, and Uterine Cancers:

	There is no early detection method for ovarian cancer. Yet, there is a 90% survival rate even after 5 years when detected in Stage I (cancer confined to the ovary).
	In 1995, 26,600 new cases of ovarian cancer were expected to be diagnosed; 14,500 women are expected to have died in 1995 from this form of cancer. Women of color die from ovarian cancer at disproportionate rates. Click here to learn more about health conditions concerning African-American women.
	Nearly one-third of all American women will have had hysterectomies by age 60; this is the highest rate in the world. Ovaries do not usually need to be removed, but doctors, lacking alternatives, often remove them to prevent ovarian cancer.
	Cervical cancer mortality rate of Native American women is twice that of all racial/ethnic groups in the US. Click here to learn more about the health conditions concerning Native American women. Click here to learn more about health conditions concerning Native American women.

Violence Against Women:

	One-quarter of all women in the United States will be abused at some point in their lives.
	A recent study found that 92% of women who were physically abused by their partners did not discuss these incidents with their physicians; 57% did not discuss the incidents with anyone.
	Twenty-three percent of pregnant women seeking prenatal care are battered.

Osteoporosis:

	Osteoporosis, a debilitating disease characterized by loss of bone mass, is a major public health threat for 20 million American women.
	Osteoporosis is prevalent in more than one-fifth of Asian American and Pacific Islander women. Click here to learn more about health conditions concerning Asian American and Pacific Islander women.
	In 1990, of the 7 million women over age 75, nearly 2 million were limited in their ability to carry out major life activities. The cause of this disability was often osteoporosis.
	Each day about $38 million is spent on osteoporosis and related fractures.
	A woman's risk of hip fracture, often related to osteoporosis, is equal to her combined risk of breast, uterine, and ovarian cancer.

Menopause:

	Menopause, unlike menstruation, is often viewed by the medical profession as a disease rather than as a natural part of aging.
	There is little research data available for women seeking nonpharmacologic techniques and alternative methods for the management of symptoms associated with menopause. Data on pharmacologic treatments is only marginally more available and is often conflicting.

Mental Illness:

	About one-fourth of all women suffer from depression at some point in their lives.
	Elderly Hispanic women living in rural community are twice as likely to be depressed as the peers in other ethinc groups. Click here to learn more about health conditions concerning Hispanic women.
	Asian American women over the age of 65 have the highest depression and female suicide mortality rate among all racial/ethnic groups.Click here to learn more about health conditions concerning Asian American and Pacific Islander women.
	Depression afflicts twice as many women as men, and only 3 in 10 depressed persons get any form of treatment. Without treatment, the frequency and severity of symptoms tend to increase over the years.
	More than 3 million people will have a panic disorder, in which one experiences brief episodes of intense fear accompanied by a variety of physical symptoms as a response to ordinary, nonthreatening situations, at some time in their lives. Women are affected twice as frequently as men.

Eating Disorders:

	Eating disorders, including anorexia and bulemia, are about 10 times as common in women as in men.
	Anorexia, in which a person starves oneself to control his or her weight, has the highest mortality rate -7 to 24%- of any psychiatric disorder.

Sexually Transmitted Diseases:

	More than 12 million new cases of STDs (other than AIDS) are diagnosed each year in the United States.
	Women account for about half of these new cases of STDs. Since women are more susceptible to infection and are less likely to experience symptoms, women tend to suffer more frequent and severe long-term consequences than men.
	Chlamydia is currently the most common sexually transmitted disease and shows no symptoms in approximately 75% of chlamydia infection cases. Left untreated in women, chlamydia can cause urinary tract infections, pelvic inflamatory disease, and even sterility.

AIDS

	Women are one of the fastest-growing demographic groups affected by HIV infection.
	63 percent of all reported AIDS cases were among African-American women. Click here to learn more about health conditions concerning African-American women.
	Of all AIDS cases in the United States, the proportion of women diagnosed with AIDS has increased from 7% in 1985 to 18% in 1994.
	AIDS is now the fourth leading cause of death among women ages 24 to 44 in the United States.

Statistics were compiled from the following organizations: the Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues; the Jacobs Institute of Women's Health; NIH Office of Research on Women's Health; the National Institute on Aging; the American Cancer Society; the Women's Health Initiative; the American Medical Association; the Commonwealth Fund; the Family Violence Prevention Fund; the National Osteoporosis Foundation; the American Psychiatric Association; the Journal of the American Medical Women's Association; the American Social Health Association; the National AIDS Clearinghouse; the American Heart Association; and the Society for Women's Health Research. (6/1/99)