Although initiatives such as the red dress campaign have substantially increased awareness of the mortality risk for women with coronary heart disease, the belief remains common that women in their midlife years are at an overall lower risk than men of the same age. Although much attention has been directed towards a better appreciation of the influence of sex on cardiovascular risk and management, important gaps in knowledge remain.

Using the cross-sectional, nationally representative National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES), Towfighi and colleagues compared changes between two decade cohorts (1988–1994 and 1999–2004) in myocardial infarction (MI) prevalence and Framingham coronary risk scores (FCRSs) by sex. The study aimed to determine the sex-specific midlife …