A Cleveland Clinic survey finds that although heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S., 68% of Americans do not know it’s the foremost killer of women. According to the survey, many Americans incorrectly thought breast cancer was the leading cause of death in women, with men especially likely to think this (44% vs. 33%). Among Millennials, 80% could not identify heart disease as the leading cause of death in women. Heart disease accounts for one in every four deaths in the U.S.
The survey also found that many Americans didn’t recognize key symptoms of heart attacks in women. Many do not know that chest pain (24%), shortness of breath or sweating (28%), pain in the neck or back of jaw (43%), new or dramatic fatigue (55%) and nausea/ vomiting (60%) are signs of a heart attack in females.
Americans also don’t recognize that most heart disease is preventable – for both men and women. Even though 90% of heart disease is due to modifiable/controllable risk factors, only 8% of Americans know that. The survey found there’s also a lot of confusion on what steps to take to prevent heart disease – and when. The survey found that:
· 80% don’t know the proper time to start getting their cholesterol tested is in their 20s.
· 29% mistakenly believing that a low-fat diet is healthiest for your heart.
· Only 19% know that the Mediterranean diet is the most heart-healthy diet.
· More than half (58%) misguidedly believe that taking an aspirin a day is a good way to prevent heart disease.
“Treatment of heart disease has come a long way in the past few decades, but we still need to work on prevention,” said Samir Kapadia, M.D., chairman of Cardiovascular Medicine at Cleveland Clinic. “There are so many simple changes that patients and the public can make that can provide significant improvements to their cardiovascular health.
Additional survey findings include:
· One-in-five (18%) Americans believe vaping e-cigarettes is not harmful to their heart health, and this belief is even higher among Millennials (26%).
· More than half (58%) of Americans get less than the recommended 150 minutes of exercise per week, and 14% of Americans say they never exercise.
· 63% of people across all age groups believe it’s likely they’ll develop heart disease in the next 10 years.
The survey was conducted as part of Cleveland Clinic Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute’s “Love your Heart” consumer education campaign in celebration of American Heart Month.
