Davina McCall Has Cardiovascular Disease. Why This Isn’t Only a Menopause Story

Oct 25, 2026

Did you know heart disease is the biggest killer of women, not breast cancer?

This week Davina McCall spoke openly about it. On her podcast Begin Again, made in partnership with the British Heart Foundation, she told listeners “I wanted to let you know, I also have cardiovascular disease.” She first found out about her high cholesterol 20 years ago, when she was pregnant, and still has regular checks to keep an eye on it.

Her guest, Louise McGill, had a heart attack despite being considered low risk after a recent health check. Her cholesterol had come back slightly high. davina mccall cardiovascular disease health 5Hjdk7t 2 +2

I’m so grateful she’s talking about this. Because so many of my ladies still think heart disease is a man’s problem. It isn’t.

What is cardiovascular disease?

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the umbrella name for conditions that affect your heart and blood vessels. The most common ones in women are:

Coronary artery disease. Plaque builds up in the walls of the arteries that supply blood to your heart. This is the leading cause of death for women, and after menopause the risk rises because of hormonal changes.
Arrhythmia. Your heart beats too slowly, too fast, or irregularly. Atrial fibrillation is a common example.
Heart failure. Your heart becomes too weak to pump enough blood around your body.

Why oestrogen matters

Oestrogen does a lot of quiet work for your heart. It helps your blood vessels relax and widen, supports the growth of healthy new vessels, protects the energy factories in your cells (your mitochondria), calms oxidative stress and helps stop stiff, fibrous tissue building up.

So when oestrogen falls in perimenopause and menopause, that protection drops away. That’s why we see risk climb in our late forties and fifties.

But here’s the bit that worries me.

It’s not only a menopause story

Research shows that while overall deaths from heart disease have been falling, deaths from coronary heart disease are rising in younger women aged 35 to 54. The reason? More women are carrying more risk factors, earlier.

One study of nearly 600 women aged 18 to 49 found that almost 60% were overweight or obese.

Nearly half had at least one other risk factor on top of that:

Physical inactivity (18.4%)
High blood pressure (17.2%)
High cholesterol (11.3%)
Smoking (9.8%)
Diabetes (5.6%)

And women with diabetes, and women who smoke, carry a bigger relative risk than men with the same issues.

There are also risk factors that only women have. These include pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes, PMOS, early menopause and autoimmune conditions. Many of these show up young, which actually gives us a head start. If you had any of these, your heart deserves extra attention now, not in ten years.

The risks nobody talks about

For women, stiffer arteries are even more strongly linked to heart disease than they are for men. And some of what affects the elasticity of your arteries comes from your environment:

Air pollution, especially fine particles
Heavy metals, especially mercury
Microplastics and nanoplastics
Bisphenol A (BPA), found in some plastics and till receipts

You can’t control everything. But you can swap plastic food containers for glass, choose lower-mercury fish and avoid heating food in plastic.

Know your numbers

Some research suggests triglycerides above 1.2 mmol/L are linked with poorer blood vessel function, so lower than the standard cut-off may be kinder to your arteries.

How much action to take on LDL depends on your level and your whole risk picture, not one number on its own. Does that make sense?

Symptoms in women can look different

Sometimes heart disease is silent in women. When there are symptoms, they can include:

A dull or heavy ache in the chest
Pain in the neck, jaw or throat
Pain in the upper tummy or back
Nausea or vomiting
Tiredness that won’t go away or feels excessive

If you notice chest pain with breathlessness or any of these signs, call 999. Please don’t brush it off.

Food for your heart

There’s no single perfect way of eating for heart health. Mediterranean, Nordic, plant-based or paleo can all work, and what suits you depends on your genes, your gut, your activity and your stress. But every heart-healthy approach has these in common:

Cut back on sugar
Cut back on processed foods
Cut back on trans fats and fried foods, and add beneficial fats like nuts, seeds, avocado and olive oil
Add more polyphenols (colourful plants, berries, herbs) and fibre
Keep your blood sugar steady

Movement: the risk factor that sneaks up on you

Here’s something I see all the time. During the menopausal transition, the energy we burn through movement drops more than the amount we eat. Activity falls and waists grow. And it’s not your fault, it’s what happens when life gets busy and energy dips.

A Finnish twin study following people for 35 years found that being inactive across a lifetime was linked with a higher BMI. Even when you compare twins, movement makes a difference.

In the study of younger women, the two biggest barriers to losing weight were cost and fatigue. I hear both of those every week. So instead of telling you to go and join a gym, I want you to ask yourself:

What’s actually making it hard for me to move right now? Time? Money? Energy?
Who is in my corner and could support me?
What kind of movement do I actually enjoy?

Start there. A brisk walk you love will do more for you than a class you dread and quit after two weeks.

The bottom line

Davina’s story is a wake-up call, and not only for women in menopause. If you’re in your thirties or forties, now is the time to know your numbers and look after your heart.