Chronic diseases are diseases or conditions that persist or progress over a long time. Chronic diseases develop slowly. Chronic illnesses are prolonged, do not resolve spontaneously, and are rarely cured completely. There are many different chronic diseases, but the two biggest killers are cardiovascular disease and cancer, by far the leading causes of death in the United States as well as the rest of the world. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) comprises a group of diseases that includes two major categories: diseases of the heart and cerebrovascular disease (primarily stroke).
Cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cellular growth and reproduction. Cancer can occur in any part of the body, but we’ll discuss a few that are of the greatest importance to women’s health: breast cancer, lung cancer, cancers of the reproductive system, and a few others.
More lives are claimed by CVD than by the next five leading causes of death combined. Cardiovascular deaths usually occur in later years when women are beset with a variety of comorbid conditions, such as high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, osteoporosis, and diabetes. The two major forms of CVD are heart disease and stroke; of these, coronary heart disease is the major killer. Strokes, however, also cause many deaths, and they disproportionately affect women—6 of 10 people who die from strokes are women.
Cardiovascular disease imposes a heavy burden on the medical care system in the United States, particularly on emergency medical departments and hospitals. Clinical care of CVD patients is costly and often prolonged. Cardiovascular disease often affects individuals during their peak productive years at work, causing significant disruption to families who are dependent on the person’s income. The high rate of CVD also carries a burden for the countries that lose productive workers to disease. The