Women with cancer-causing strains of human papillomavirus (HPV) may be at increased risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and stroke even when no conventional risk factors for CVD are present. Researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston are the first to investigate a potential connection between CVD and HPV, one of the most common sexually transmitted infections in the U.S. Their findings are published in the Nov. 1 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.