(RxWiki News) Some health conditions are considerably costlier to treat than others. When it comes to women, one of the big ones leads the pack -- heart disease.
In 2008, the cost for treating heart disease in American women was $43.6 billion. It leads a top 10 list of the most expensive health conditions for women, the most recent statistics from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality show.
"Take preventative measures to lower your heart disease risk."
The federal agency analyzed the conditions by health care expenditures for women. Many in the ranking were not surprising. Most were common conditions.
Rounding out the top five after heart disease were cancer, mental disorders, trauma-related disorders and osteoarthritis. Spending on cancer and mental disorders was nearly tied with $37.7 billion and $37.3 billion spent, respectively. Also on the list was Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease grouped together with asthma, and high blood pressure.
Regardless of condition spending, researchers found that high blood pressure was the most common health condition for women with 29.5 million affected. On the other hand, the least common was cancer, which affected 8.4 million women.
Researchers used data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, a detailed report on health services utilized by Americans.
Statistics that the survey maintains include the frequency that health services are used, the cost of those services and how they are paid. The survey maintains statistics only for adults over the age of 18.
