Gender differences in cardiovascular outcomes.
This review focuses on identifiable differences in prevalence, diagnosis, and treatment of cardiovascular diseases in the two genders. The specific task is to determine whether the differences identified are justifiable, as well as whether they can be altered over time. Since cardiovascular diseases kill more American woman than all other diseases combined, and since a great part of the health care budget is spent in this area, the review is highly pertinent in today's environment of cost containment in medicine. The Council of Ethical and Judicial Affairs of the American Medical Association, in its 1991 report, stated that "the medical community cannot tolerate any discrepancy in the provision of care that is not based on appropriate biological or medical indications." This review will, thus, attempt to determine which of the gender differences in cardiovascular outcomes can no longer be countenanced.