(ANSA) Rome, March 31 - Cholesterol and smoking are the
main threats to Italian women's hearts, accounting for as much
as 67% of cases of female heart disease in Italy, the Italian
cardiologists' society said Tuesday.
After those two factors, the others in decreasing order of
importance are diabetes, hypertension, and obesity, said
Francesco Romeo, president of the society, at the presentation
of the campaign "Live with the heart" to encourage women to
adopt a healthier lifestyle.
Smoking is evidently the most difficult factor for
fun-loving Italian women to resist, according to Roberta
Pacifici, of the Higher Institute of Health.
"The greater predisposition to develop nicotine dependency
in women is well known," said Pacifici, "they have less
propensity to quit, call help lines less, have a greater number
of relapses ... smoking is a disease, not a vice, until that is
understood the problem will not be defeated".
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