Health
Heart disease risk higher for women who have these unhealthy lifestyle habits
It’s long been known that certain lifestyle and health factors increase the risk of heart disease — but a new study highlights that they could affect women more than men.
Eight specific habits — diet, sleep, physical activity, smoking, body mass index, blood glucose, lipids and blood pressure — appear to have twice the impact on heart health risk for women compared to men, found researchers at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto.
The findings will be presented at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session in Chicago on March 29-31, 2025.
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The study included data from over 175,000 Canadian adults without existing heart conditions who enrolled in the Ontario Health Study between 2009 and 2017, according to a press release.
The researchers analyzed the participants’ scores for the eight risk factors and then tracked the incidence of seven heart disease outcomes over an 11-year period.
Specific habits appear to have twice the impact on heart health risk for women compared to men, researchers in Toronto discovered. (iStock)
Those outcomes included heart attack, stroke, unstable angina (chest pain that results from restricted blood flow to the heart), peripheral arterial disease (narrowed blood vessels in the arms or legs), heart failure and coronary revascularization (procedures to open blocked arteries) and cardiovascular death, the release stated.
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Overall, more women were found to have ideal health (9.1% compared to 4.8% of men).
They were also less likely to have poor health (21.9% compared to 30.5% of men).
Women who had poor health, however, were shown to have nearly five times the risk of heart disease than women with ideal health, the study found.
“We found that women tend to have better health than men, but the impact on outcomes is different.”
In comparison, men with poor health had 2.5 times the risk of heart disease compared to men with ideal health.
Among women with intermediate health, there was a 2.3 times higher risk than for those with ideal health, compared to 1.6 times the risk for men with intermediate health.
Women who had poor health were shown to have nearly five times the risk of heart disease than women with ideal health, the study found. (iStock)
“For the same level of health, our study shows that the increase in risk [related to each factor] is higher in women than in men — it’s not one-size-fits-all,” said lead author Maneesh Sud, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor in the department of medicine, interventional cardiologist and clinician scientist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, in the release.
“We found that women tend to have better health than men, but the impact on outcomes is different. The combination of these factors has a bigger impact in women than it does in men.”
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This is a new finding that hasn’t been seen in other studies, the researcher added.
Based on the study findings, the researchers concluded that “sex-specific screening or risk assessment approaches” could more accurately predict people’s heart disease risk.
“I think the reason women are being found to be more susceptible to heart disease is because of particular milestone stresses in their lives that men don’t share, which include dramatic hormonal shifts that can bear directly on cardiac function,” one doctor shared. (iStock)
Dr. Marc Siegel, clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Health and Fox News’ senior medical analyst, was not involved in the study, but shared his insights on the possible reasons for the findings.
“I think the reason women are being found to be more susceptible to heart disease is because of particular milestone stresses in their lives that men don’t share, which include dramatic hormonal shifts that can bear directly on cardiac function,” he told Fox News Digital.
Those milestones may include pregnancy, childbirth and menopause, the doctor noted.
“Keep in mind that estrogen is in some respects cardio-protective, and it drops dramatically with menopause,” Siegel said. “And at the same time, cholesterol (a cardiac risk factor) increases, as may weight.”
“Overall, women tended to have better health than men, with better diets, blood sugar, cholesterol and blood pressure,” the researchers stated. (iStock)
“Overall, women tended to have better health than men, with better diets, blood sugar, cholesterol and blood pressure, but those in intermediate health had a higher risk of heart problems,” he went on.
Due to the study’s limited population, “only certain conclusions can be drawn,” Siegel added.
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Dr. Bradley Serwer, a Maryland-based cardiologist and chief medical officer at VitalSolution, an Ingenovis Health company that offers cardiovascular and anesthesiology services to hospitals nationwide, said there has been a need for studies specifically designed to focus on women’s cardiovascular risk.
“We know that premenopausal women have a lower age-adjusted cardiovascular risk, but this catches up after menopause.”
“For many years, we have falsely assumed that traditional cardiovascular risk factors affected populations similarly,” Serwer, who was not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital.
“We know that premenopausal women have a lower age-adjusted cardiovascular risk, but this catches up after menopause.”
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More research is needed to understand the underlying reasons for this phenomenon, the cardiologist noted.
“Is it solely attributable to the protective effects of estrogen, or are there other unrecognized contributors? I commend the authors of this study for their contributions, as they further challenge our conventional approaches to primary prevention in women.”
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An accidental lab discovery has opened the door to entirely new ways of preventing the flu.
While investigating how influenza replicates, researchers discovered that different flu strains use completely different strategies to infiltrate human cells, SWNS reported.
By targeting the specific molecules the viruses rely on, scientists found that they could block them from entering new cells and halt their replication altogether.
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Researchers say these “fundamental insights” into seasonal influenza highlight a clear path toward developing better preventive medications.
“The hope is that fundamental, curiosity-based research like this helps to pave the way for novel strategies to treat and prevent influenza infections,” principal investigator Dr. Emily Bruce, from the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine, said in the SWNS report.
While investigating how influenza replicates, researchers discovered that different flu strains use completely different strategies to infiltrate human cells. (iStock)
While several flu strains cause illness, H1N1 and H3N2 influenza A viruses are the most common. However, current flu tests cannot differentiate between them, and clinical treatments are identical for both.
Although vaccines and antivirals are available, Bruce noted a “dire” need for better medications to stop the virus from spreading cell to xxcell.
“You don’t get sick when a virus is in one cell,” he noted. “You get sick because a virus replicates itself and goes into many more cells.”
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The study, which was published in The Journal of Virology, originally aimed to map how viral RNA segments are transported within cells to create new viral particles.
The team used H1N1 and H3N2 viruses isolated from the nasal passages of positive patients in 2022.
Clinical treatments remain identical for both primary strains of the flu virus. (iStock)
During the investigation, the team unexpectedly stumbled upon a cellular pathway that blocked the virus from entering lung cells, SWNS reported.
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The data revealed that when a specific human protein called Rab11B was depleted, H3N2 viruses failed to enter human lung cells. H1N1 viruses were completely unaffected.
Using reverse genetics, the team mapped this defect and uncovered a brand-new, H3N2-specific role for Rab11B during viral entry.
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This discovery challenged the scientific assumption that all flu viruses enter cells the same way.
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“Viruses are like pirates from different countries hijacking someone’s ship,” Bruce said. “Different viruses, like different types of pirates, use different methods to get onboard.”
This discovery challenged the scientific assumption that all flu viruses enter cells the same way. (iStock)
“We had previously thought that all flu viruses used the same way to get into a cell, but we discovered that this is not true,” she went on. “H1N1 and H3N2 need different proteins to get in, and if you get rid of the right protein, a specific virus can’t get in.”
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While these findings identify a critical cellular pathway for viral entry, the study was conducted using isolated cells, the researchers acknowledged.
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Further research is needed to determine whether blocking the protein is safe and effective within a live, complex human respiratory system.
Bruce and the team hope to conduct further research to determine whether this Rab11B-dependency is a fundamental property of H3N2, or if it’s a trait unique to currently circulating flu strains.
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Eating processed meat like ham, sausage and bacon may be linked to a higher risk of certain types of cancer, according to new research.
While health organizations have already confirmed that processed meat can contribute to colon cancer, this study looked closer at cancers in the upper digestive tract, where the link has historically been less clear.
To understand these connections, researchers from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), one of the world’s largest long-term nutrition and cancer cohorts, tracked the health and diets of 450,112 people across Europe for an average of 14 years.
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The study group included 131,426 men and 318,686 women, according to the study’s press release.
During the follow-up period, 876 people developed stomach cancer and 215 people developed esophageal adenocarcinoma, which is cancer of the tube connecting the mouth to the stomach.
For female participants, eating both processed meat and white meat was linked to an increased risk of developing the disease. (iStock)
Researchers tracked where the stomach cancers grew, separating them into the upper part of the stomach near the throat and the lower part of the stomach.
The researchers also sorted the tumors into two categories based on how the cancer cells appeared under a microscope: intestinal, which forms more organized structures, and diffuse, in which the cells are more scattered throughout the tissue.
BACTERIA IN YOUR MOUTH MAY TRAVEL TO THE GUT AND TRIGGER STOMACH CANCER, RESEARCH FINDS
After adjusting for other lifestyle factors, the researchers found that for every extra 30 grams of processed meat a person ate per day, their overall risk of stomach cancer went up by 9%. Eating that same extra 30 grams a day was also linked to a 13% higher risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma.
A standard single slice of regular deli-sliced ham or lunch meat averages around 28 grams, according to USDA data and nutritional tracking databases.
An extra 20 grams of white meat, such as chicken and turkey, was linked to a 12% higher risk of cancer in the main body of the stomach. (iStock)
An extra 20 grams of white meat, such as chicken or turkey, was linked to a 12% higher risk of cancer in the main body of the stomach, the researchers noted.
The study also revealed differences between men and women. For male participants, only processed meat showed a clear, statistically significant link to a higher risk of stomach cancer. For female participants, however, eating both processed meat and white meat was linked to an increased risk.
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These findings align with global health benchmarks, particularly those established by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer.
The agency has long classified processed meat as a known human carcinogen, primarily due to its strong, well-documented links to colorectal cancer.
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However, health organizations have also consistently pointed to a potential, yet less definitive, relationship between these meats and cancers of the stomach.
Eating 30 grams of processed meat a day, or the equivalent to one slice of ham, was linked to a 13% higher risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma. (iStock)
Further scientific investigation is needed to confirm the findings and to account for other underlying risk factors, such as certain stomach infections, which could interact with dietary habits.
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A key limitation of the study is its reliance on self-reported diets, which can sometimes lead to inaccuracies in how participants recall their meat consumption over time, the researchers noted.
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The findings were published in the International Journal of Cancer.
Fox News Digital reached out to the researchers requesting comment.
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