Cardiovascular Disease Projected to Affect 6 in 10 Women by 2050

• Researchers say the heart health of American women will decline over the next 25 years if current trends continue.
• A new AHA scientific statement projects that 60% of U.S. women will have at least one type of cardiovascular disease, 25% will have diabetes, and 60% will have obesity by 2050.
• The authors say these trends are driven by rising rates of conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes.

The American Heart Association (AHA) projects that the cardiovascular health of females in the United States will decline significantly over the next 25 years.

In a scientific statement published on February 25 in Circulation, the association reports that nearly 60% of U.S. women will have at least one type of cardiovascular disease by 2050.

The authors of the statement say the downward trend in women’s heart health will cut across all age groups, all ethnicities, and all types of cardiovascular disease.

The authors also projected that rates of high cholesterol will decrease during the next quarter-century.

The scientific statements come on the heels of a recent study suggesting that women typically have less artery-clogging plaque than men, but still face higher rates of cardiovascular events like heart attacks.

The reports are part of the AHA’s campaign to educate women about cardiovascular disease during American Heart Month.

“Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for women and remains their number one health risk overall,” Stacey Rosen, MD, volunteer president of the AHA, executive director of the Katz Institute for Women’s Health, and senior vice president of women’s health at Northwell Health in New York City, said in a statement.

Cardiovascular disease can affect women of all ages, with risk factors like high blood pressure driving the onset in younger females.

“We know the factors that contribute to heart disease and stroke begin early in life, even among young women and girls,” Rosen said in a statement.

“The impact is even greater among those experiencing adverse social determinants of health such as poverty, low literacy, rural residence, and other psychosocial stressors. Identifying the types of trends outlined in this report is critical to making meaningful changes that can reverse this course,” Rosen said.

The AHA’s report noted that the expected increase in cardiovascular disease underscores the need for greater awareness and prevention strategies for U.S. women and medical professionals alike.

“We have done a great job decreasing deaths from big cardiovascular events like heart attacks and strokes, but these data suggest that we need to really refocus our efforts on health, wellness, and prevention,” said first study author Karen Joynt Maddox, MD, a professor of medicine and public health and the co-director of the Center for Advancing Health Services, Policy & Economics Research at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, in a statement.

Jennifer Wong, MD, a cardiologist and medical director of Non-Invasive Cardiology at MemorialCare Heart and Vascular Institute at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, CA, wasn’t involved in the scientific statement, but said it raises serious concerns.

“The overall rise in cardiovascular disease, despite reductions in hyperlipidemia and improvements in diet, physical activity, and smoking rates, is unexpected and concerning,” Wong told Healthline.

“The rising prevalence of risk factors such as diabetes and hypertension, along with the marked increase in obesity among girls, is alarming,” she said.

The authors of the AHA scientific statement said they expect several health issues to emerge by 2050 if current trends continue. Among their predictions:

• Nearly 60% of U.S. women will have high blood pressure. That compares with fewer than 50% today.
• More than 25% of U.S. women will have diabetes, compared to about 15% currently.
• More than 60% of U.S. women will have obesity, compared to about 44% today.

The authors noted that older women will continue to have higher rates of cardiovascular disease. However, they said the rates among younger women will climb substantially. Among their projections:

• Nearly a third of U.S. women ages 22 to 44 will have some type of cardiovascular disease by 2050, compared to 1 in 4 now.
• More than a third of women ages 22 to 44 will have high blood pressure, an increase of 11%.
• More than 1 in 6 women ages 22 to 44 will have obesity, a rise of 18%.
• Diabetes rates for women in this age group will more than double, from 6% to nearly 16%.

The authors added that the trends will be similar among girls ages 2 to 19. Among those predictions:

• Nearly 32% of girls in this age group will have obesity by 2050, an increase of 12%.
• More than 60% of these girls will have inadequate physical activity, and more than half will have unhealthy diets.

“This trend in increased health risks among girls and young women is particularly disturbing, as it indicates they will be facing chronic health issues for most of their lives,” said Rosen.

Concerns were also raised among certain ethnic groups. The authors’ predictions for 2050 include:

• High blood pressure will increase the most among Hispanic women, rising by more than 15%.
• Obesity will increase the most among Asian women, jumping by nearly 26%.
• Health factors that increase heart disease risk will remain high among Black women, with 70% having high blood pressure, 71% having obesity, and 28% having diabetes.
• About 40% of Black girls between the ages of 2 and 19 will have obesity.

Nissi Suppogu, MD, a cardiologist and medical director of the Women’s Heart Center at MemorialCare Heart & Vascular Institute at Long Beach Medical Center in California, said all these predictions are disconcerting. Suppogu wasn’t involved in the scientific statement.

“I am a little surprised by these projections because decades of ongoing hard work have gone into diagnosing heart disease and creating awareness about risk factors and improvements in cholesterol control, which is great, but the trend of worsening obesity, diabetes, and hypertension is disturbing,” Suppogu told Healthline.

The report authors outlined a number of steps they said can be taken to reverse the rising trend of female cardiovascular disease. Among the recommendations:

• Promote healthy choices in schools, community centers, pediatric clinics, and gynecology offices.
• Health providers should prioritize long-term support for managing chronic conditions such as high blood pressure in females.
• New research should be conducted, looking into how new obesity medications work specifically in females.
• Treatment plans for long-term conditions such as atrial fibrillation (AFib) and heart failure should include factors unique to females.
• Heart health programs tailored to Black women should be developed.

They recommended a goal of reducing chronic health factors, such as high blood pressure, by 10%, and improving blood sugar and cholesterol management by 20%.

“Society has come so far in medical advancements, but the same can’t be said for innovation and progress around cardiovascular health, wellness, and prevention,” said Joynt Maddox.

“Every woman of every age should understand her risk of heart disease and stroke and be empowered to take action to reduce that risk,” added Rosen.

Wong said it’s important for women to know their heart disease risks are different than men’s risks.

“Traditional risk factors such as diabetes and smoking appear to confer a disproportionately greater increase in cardiovascular risk for women compared with men,” said Wong. “In addition, women are uniquely affected by sex-specific risk factors, including pregnancy-related complications such as preeclampsia and gestational diabetes.”

“This is a harsh reminder that there is so much work to do in creating awareness about heart disease and risk factors,” said Suppogu. “Focus is on prevention starting very early on in a girl’s life and across various stages of life, focusing especially on pregnancy-related risk factors and changes with menopause as well.”

There are several ways females can improve their heart health in their daily lives. Among them:

“Women should address risk factors such as diabetes and obesity early and adopt preventive strategies — including a heart-healthy diet, regular physical activity, and adequate sleep — to reduce the likelihood of developing these conditions whenever possible,” said Wong.

Suppogu recommended that females adhere closely to the AHA’s Life Essential 8 guidelines.

“It is so important for every female to understand that coronary artery disease is preventable and treatable,” she said. “So, it is important that they are aware of the risk factors that cause it, so that they can focus on preventing these risk factors.”