Inspite of the fact that heart disease is the leading cause of death among women worldwide, women remain underrepresented in heart disease research.

Women accounted for less than 40% of all people enrolled in cardiovascular clinical trials from 2010 through 2017, according to a study published in the journal Circulation.

Journal editor-in-chief Dr. Joseph Hill, chief of cardiology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas said that one woman dies from cardiovascular disease every 80 seconds. It is the leading cause of death among women around the globe. It claims the life of one in every three women. Yet disparities continue to persist with regards to symptom recognition, lifesaving support measures, treatment times and methodologies.

The study was conducted by Lijing Yan of the Global Heath Research Center at Duke Kunshan University, in China, and colleagues. They analyzed 740 completed cardiovascular clinical trials.

The clinical trials included a total of nearly 863,000 adults, between the age of 25 to 89, with an average age of 61. Investigators found that overall, only 38% of the participants were women.

Acute coronary syndrome trials had the lowest proportion of women, while pulmonary hypertension had the highest. High blood pressure in the arteries to your lungs is known as Pulmonary hypertension.

Women aged 55 or younger had the highest female representation in trials. Those aged 61 to 65 had the lowest, according to the report.

Trials of devices, procedures and medication had lower representation by women as compared to trials focused on diet and exercise as per the study.

The study authors state that more needs to be done to boost the number of women in cardiovascular research. But till then health care providers should be aware of gender differences in heart disease symptoms, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis.