Dyslipidemia Management in Women and Men: Exploring Potential Gender Differences

This chapter discusses risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD) in men and women, various elements constituting the lipid profile, and treatments for dyslipidemia. Dyslipidemia is a treatable risk factor for CHD. There are documented differences in disease onset and lipid profiles in men vs. women. Women typically manifest CHD 10 years later than men. The onset of disease in women usually occurs postmenopause. It has been suggested that a high density lipoprotein (HDL) >70mg/dl should be classified as a negative risk factor for women because a large percentage of women with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) develop CHD. Elevated triglycerides (TG) appear to be a significant independent CHD risk factor, especially for women. Given the risk associated with high TG, it is not surprising that non-HDL-C, which takes into account all atherogenic lipoproteins including those that predominate when TG is high, is a better predictor of CHD than low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), especially in women. Despite these differences in disease onset age and significance of lipid profiles, men and women appear to respond similarly to common therapies for dyslipidemia. Current data supports the appropriate use of lipid-lowering therapy to lower the risk of CHD in both men and women.