Allorganisms,rangingfromsingle-celledorganismstohumans,demonstratecircadianrhythmsthatarenear24-hpatternsthatarepresentindependentofenvironmentalcues.Disruptionofthisprocess,calledcircadianmisalignment,isassociatedwithdeleterioushealthoutcomes.Themostextremeexampleofthismisalignmentisshiftwork,andthereisevidencesuggestingastrongassociationbetweenshiftworkandcertaincardiovascularoutcomes.Theoutcomesofmoststudiesincludeobesity,metabolicsyndrome,hypertension,type2diabetesmellitus,atrialfibrillation,andcardiovascularevents.Inthisarticlewereviewthecurrentliteraturewithanemphasisonwomen’scardiovascularhealth.Thedataareconflicting,andthereisapaucityofrobustevidencewithregardtowomen’scardiovascularhealthandcircadianmisalignment.Morestudiesareneededtobetterdelineatethesexdifferencesaswellasthepathophysiologyoftheassociationsbetweencircadianmisalignmentandcardiovasculardiseasessothatwecanprovidepatientswithmorepersonalizedcare.
