Recent Advancements and Ongoing Roadblocks in Cardiovascular Care for Women

Although cardiovascular disease (CVD) is still under-recognized and undertreated among women, significant progress has been made in identifying, diagnosing, and managing CVD, as well as its constituent factors, among female patients.1

To address the longstanding issues facing both female patients and clinicians in cardiology, as well as the recent advancements that aim to overcome these roadblocks, the editorial team at HCPLive spoke with Heather Johnson, MD, a preventive cardiologist at Lynn Women’s Health and Wellness Institute in Baptist Health South Florida and a clinical affiliate associate professor at Florida Atlantic University. Johnson discussed multiple aspects of cardiovascular care among female patients across the full care timeline.

“There has been progress, especially over the last decade, in women’s heart health,” Johnson told HCPLive in an exclusive interview. “We’re now recognizing various risk factors and risk enhancers in relation to how they impact women’s health; we’re also highlighting the fact that women’s health related to the heart is not something we start to examine at a certain age, but in is in fact important across the life course.”

Currently, >62 million female patients are living with some form of CVD. Additionally, 1 in 3 women are expected to face cardiovascular mortality. A recent statement from the American Heart Association (AHA) has indicated that 6 out of every 10 US women are expected to develop ≥1 type of CVD by the year 2050. Given current trends, the statement estimates that >60% of women will have obesity by 2050, compared to roughly 44% today, and almost 60% will have high blood pressure versus <50% now.2

In light of these estimates, experts have shifted their focus from solely treating CVD in women to preventing it. A substantial proportion of potential CVD cases can be avoided through behavioral changes or lifestyle interventions – to that end, researchers have highlighted behavioral medicine as a potential path forward.1

The functional core of behavioral medicine is comparatively simple, as it is based around changes to diet, exercise habits, and sleep. Life’s Essential 8, a system for monitoring behavioral cardiovascular health developed by the American Heart Association (AHA), provides an effective framework upon which clinicians can build for female patients while accounting for other substantial factors such as menopause and pregnancy. However, clinical implementation of behavioral health has thus far been limited, with little utilization and funding in the larger sphere of cardiology.1

Johnson also spoke to the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to cardiovascular care among female patients. Cardio-obstetrics, a growing subspecialty, provides a particularly effective launching point for this, combining cardiology and obstetric care for pregnant women or women who have recently given birth. This allows clinicians to focus on a critical transitionary period in the lifespan – one that has been historically underresearched.3

“There are so many opportunities to collaborate and be a part of women’s health, but we have to make sure that we include women every step of the way,” Johnson said. “It’s great to have the knowledge. It’s great to have the trials. We want to make sure that they receive the best care based upon those findings.”

Editors’ Note: Johnson reports disclosures with Medtronic, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Amgen, Esperion Therapeutics, Bayer, Boston Scientific Corporation, and others.

References

1. Gaffey AE, Carroll AJ, Cavanagh CE, et al. Reimagining Cardiovascular Health and Prevention for Women: The Unrealized Potential of Behavioral Medicine. JACC Adv. 2025;4(12 Pt 2):102314. doi:10.1016/j.jacadv.2025.102314

2. American Heart Association. 6 in 10 US women projected to have at least one type of cardiovascular disease by 2050. AHA Newsroom. February 25, 2026. Accessed May 28, 2026. https://newsroom.heart.org/news/6-in-10-u-s-women-projected-to-have-at-least-one-type-of-cardiovascular-disease-by-2050

3. DeFilippis EM, Bhagra C, Casale J, et al. Cardio-Obstetrics and Heart Failure: JACC: Heart Failure State-of-the-Art Review. JACC Heart Fail. 2023;11(9):1165-1180. doi:10.1016/j.jchf.2023.07.009