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Review
. 2025 Jun 12;27(1):93.
doi: 10.1007/s11886-025-02247-2.

Cardiovascular Care in Women Veterans: An Updated Profile

Pristine Mei  1 , Delia Cotiga  2 , Ingy Mahana  3 , Nimra Gilani  4 , Michelle L Dew  5 , Susmita Parashar  6 , D Elizabeth Le  7   8
Affiliations
Review

Cardiovascular Care in Women Veterans: An Updated Profile

Pristine Mei et al. Curr Cardiol Rep. .

Abstract

Purpose of review: To provide an updated summary of the burden and care of cardiovascular disease in women veterans.

Recent findings: Women veterans can develop atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease at a much earlier age of 30 years compared to non-veteran women. Those who experienced chronic stress and environmental exposures were more likely to develop early menopause and premature coronary artery disease. Despite major improvements in therapeutic options for cardiovascular disease, the mortality rate of women veterans continues to rise while that of their counterparts has steadily decreased. Women veterans is the fastest growing group of the veteran population. This is a unique and diverse population with a complex intersection of traditional, sex-specific, and military service-related risks for cardiovascular disease. They have a higher prevalence of both traditional and non-traditional risk factors compared to non-veteran women and are especially impacted by depression, post-traumatic stress syndrome, military sexual trauma, and housing instability.

Keywords: Cardiovascular disease; Military service-related exposures; Veteran-specific risks; Women veterans.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent: This article does not contain any studies with animal subjects performed by any of the authors. Except for Dr. Parashar, no other authors perform any clinical studies. In Dr. Susmita Parashar’s study, (reference 76) patients enrolled in the Cardiovascular Health Study had provided informed consent and the study was approved by the local Institutional Board. In Dr. Parashar’s second publication (reference 79), the manuscript is a review article and was not a primary clinical investigation that required informed consent or local Institutional review Board approval. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this presentation reflect the results of research conducted by the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Defense Health Agency, the Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Defense, nor the U.S. Government. Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

References

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