Lisa Marie Presley died on January 12 after suffering cardiac arrest at her home in Calabasas. The cause of her death hasn’t been determined. The LA County Medical Examiner-Coroner is investigating. But Presley had a history of heart disease in her family. Her father Elvis, grandmother, and grandfather reportedly had heart issues.
Lisa Marie’s sudden death, at just 54 years old, has more women thinking about heart health. According to the CDC, heart disease is now the leading cause of death for women in the United States. And typically, more women die of heart attacks than men.
“One out of four of us is going to die of heart disease in our lifetime. And it's much higher than breast cancer for women. So if people just count on getting heart disease in their lifetime, we should all be taking preventive steps. It's the leading killer of people worldwide,” says Dr. Noel Bairey Merz, director of the Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center at Cedars Sinai.
She also highlights some research: “During their menstrual years, pre-menopausal women, if they're having a lot of skipped periods, or even periods of time where they lose their period, that is starting to look like it could be a risk factor for future disease. … We also have good data now about hormone replacement therapy for menopausal women. … It's very clear that that does not prevent heart disease, and it actually has a black box warning around it. If a woman already has a cardiovascular condition, [they] should not take hormone replacement therapy.”