|
Women
Uninformed About Heart Disease
NEW
YORK (Reuters Health) - Heart disease is a seriously misunderstood
illness among American women, according to a new poll, with only
about one-third accurately recognizing it as the No. 1 killer
of women and less than 10% viewing it as their greatest health
problem.
``Although
many women die unnecessarily every year from heart disease, women
are not aware that they are at risk,'' said Dr. Rose Marie Robertson,
president of the American Heart Association (AHA).
The AHA commissioned
the poll--conducted by Harris Interactive -- to assess women's
perceptions and sources of information regarding general health
risks as well as heart disease and stroke. An update of a previous
poll completed in 1997, the national survey involved over 1,000
women over the age of 25 who were interviewed by telephone in
June and July of 2000.
The researchers
found that although cardiovascular disease kills more American
men and women than any other illness, over 60% of women believed
cancer is their leading health problem--a figure basically unchanged
from three years prior.
Specific knowledge
about heart disease was found to be uneven. In spite of the fact
that almost 70% of the women said they were concerned about stroke
and 65 percent% knew that chest pain is a warning sign of an attack,
only 36% recognized that sudden weakness or numbness on one side
of the body or face is a symptom.
Over one-quarter
mistakenly thought that aromatherapy can offer protection against
the disease.
However, most
women were able to identify the seven activities that can best
prevent or reduce the risk of developing heart disease, including
exercise, weight and stress reduction, quitting smoking and reducing
consumption of cholesterol, sodium and animal products
And the researchers
also pointed to the encouraging fact that three-quarters of women
reported having received some information on heart disease in
the prior year.
Nonetheless,
the poll revealed that only 20% of the women had discussed the
issue with a health-care professional in the last year, with most
saying that they were informed on the subject either through magazines
(43%) or television (21%).
The researchers
also noted that 35% viewed heart disease as something that can
suddenly develop between the ages of 35 and 49--in spite of the
fact that the illness is widely known to develop gradually, potentially
starting at a very early age.
Remarking
on the poll results in an editorial published in the May 15th
issue of Circulation:Journal of the American Heart Association,
Robertson cautioned that despite high levels of general awareness
and concern, adequate prevention and risk reduction will not result
if physicians and patients don't discuss the disease more often.
She noted
that the less than 40% of physicians currently talking to their
patients about heart disease is insufficient given the fact that
over 90%of women said they are comfortable discussing disease
prevention and treatment with their doctors.
``If we can
get women and their doctors talking about these problems we can
have a tremendous impact,'' Robertson told Reuters Health. ``We
have extremely effective treatments and because of lack of information
people aren't benefiting from that. So I think this is a wake-up
call for physicians as well, because so many women said they would
like to get more information from their doctors--and those conversations
aren't happening.''
Reference
Source 89
For more information on how to prevent other diseases, use
PreventDisease.com's "Quick
Prevention Resources".
|
