Four prominent medical organizations have released a coordinated framework to redefine cardiovascular care for women and girls across the lifespan. Published in the journal Circulation, the guidance addresses the unique biological transitions that shape female heart health from adolescence through postmenopause.
According to the reports, heart disease is the number one cause of death for females in the United States, as well as the leading cause of death during pregnancy.
A Shared Life-Stage Framework
The collaborative guidance establishes a “female life stage” framework designed to help clinicians identify cardiovascular risks early and coordinate care across medical specialties such as pediatrics, obstetrics, and gynecology. The reports outline distinct phases defined by hormone changes, including Stage 1 perimenarche—the transition around the first menstrual period for girls ages 8 to 15—and Stage 4 postmenopause, which represents the years after menopause when most heart attacks, strokes, and heart failure events occur.
Addressing Risk and Prevention
The organizations emphasize that females have specific biological and hormonal factors that increase their susceptibility to cardiovascular disease. The guidance notes that pregnancy is an event impacting cardiovascular health that may occur at any or multiple life stages, and maternal mortality has increased in recent years.
To combat these trends, clinicians can now evaluate risk using 10- and 30-year sex-specific risk estimation via the American Heart Association PREVENT equations. The trio of reports includes a presidential advisory that lays out a female-specific life course approach to prevention and management.
