Women and men share most of the same risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD), a large international study has found — the first such study to include people not only from high income countries, but also from low- and middle-income countries where the burden of CVD is the greatest. The global study assessed risk factors, including metabolic (such as high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes), behavioural (smoking and diet), and psychosocial (economic status and depression) in about 156,000 people without a history of CVD between the ages of 35 and 70. Living in 21 low, middle and high-income countries on five continents, they were followed for an average of 10 years.
