Coronary artery disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, accounting for over 500,000 deaths each year. Although the onset of coronary artery disease is delayed in women, it is the single most important cause of death in women over the entire life span. Indeed, because more women than men survive to old age, mortality due to coronary artery disease for all ages combined is as great in women as in men. Furthermore, once they present with clinical evidence of coronary artery disease, women have a prognosis as poor as, or even worse, than that for men. In part, this may be due to late recognition of coronary artery disease in women, less intensive treatment of women, or a more adverse risk profile in women who develop coronary artery disease. The report of a recent Working Group on Angiographic Trials of Atherosclerosis Prevention notes that, compared to males, females who develop coronary artery disease, have various different characteristics which may affect the vascular response to lipid-altering interventions. These differences led the report to question whether the mechanisms and clinical benefits of lipid-altering agents may be different in men and women. It further noted that angiographic trials conducted to date have been based primarily upon the cholesterol-lowering treatments of diet or drugs and suggested that other approaches based upon the lipid hypothesis could profitably be tested and should be given the highest priority at this time; specifically recommended were trials of hormone replacement and antioxidant therapy in women.