What Is The Heart Truth?
Leading Causes of Death for American Women (2002): Heart Disease 356,000; Stroke 100,000; Lung Cancer 68,000; Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease 64,000; Breast Cancer 42,000
Every woman needs to know about heart disease.
The Heart Truth is that heart disease is the #1 killer of American women. In fact, one in three women dies of heart disease. But heart disease can also lead to disability and a significantly decreased quality of life.
Unfortunately, most women don't know The Heart Truth. Only 20 percent of women identify heart disease as the greatest health problem facing women today.
The Heart Truth is that women don't take their risk of heart disease seriously—or personally. Women often fail to make the connection between risk factors, such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol, and their own chance of developing heart disease.
The centerpiece of The Heart Truth is the Red Dress, which was introduced as the national symbol for women and heart disease awareness at the campaign's launch in 2002. The Red Dress reminds women of the need to protect their heart health, and inspires them to take action.
Goal of the Campaign
To make women more aware of the danger of heart disease, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and partner organizations are sponsoring a national campaign called The Heart Truth. The campaign's goal is to give women a personal and urgent wakeup call about their risk of heart disease.
Who Are We Trying to Reach?
The campaign is especially aimed at women ages 40 to 60, the time when a woman's risk of heart disease starts to rise. But its messages are also important for younger women, since heart disease develops gradually and can start at a young age—even in the teenage years. Older women have an interest too—it's never too late to take action to prevent and control the risk factors for heart disease. Even those who have heart disease can improve their heart health and quality of life.
The Heart Truth for Women: It's Ageless >
Heart disease disproportionately affects women of color. African American and Hispanic women in particular have high rates of the major risk factors for heart disease, including obesity, physical inactivity, high blood pressure, and diabetes. The Heart Truth Women of Color initiative, with its partners, focuses on extending The Heart Truth messages, and engaging in national and local activities to help more women of color understand The Heart Truth—and inspire them to take action to reduce their risks for heart disease.
The campaign tells women that "The Heart Truth starts with you. Talk to your doctor, find out your risk, and take action today to lower it." Its messages are underscored by the moving stories of real women who are living with heart disease. Ann, Paula, Rosario, and others have allowed the campaign to tell The Heart Truth through their faces, voices, and experiences in hopes that their Stories From The Heart will help other women take heart health seriously.
Results
A 2005 survey from the American Heart Association shows that more women are getting the message that heart disease is the #1 killer of women. According to the survey, 55 percent of American women know that heart disease is their leading killer, up from 34 percent in 2000. The survey also showed that women's knowledge about their personal risk of heart disease is associated with increased action to reduce their risk. However, about one-third of women underestimated their own personal risk of heart disease.
The Red Dress also is gaining momentum. Lifetime Television, in conjunction with NHLBI, released a new national poll in February 2006 on women's behaviors and perceptions of heart disease. The poll found that 39 percent of women recognize the Red Dress as the national symbol for women and heart disease awareness, up from 25 percent in 2005.
Surveys
* Getting the Message: Heart Disease is the #1 Killer of Women
A 2005 survey from the American Heart Association shows that more women are getting the message that heart disease is the #1 killer of women. According to the survey, 55 percent of American women know that heart disease is the leading killer of women, up from 34 percent in 2000. Although awareness has increased among African American and Hispanic women, these groups—who are at higher risk of heart disease than white women—continue to have lower rates of awareness.
* Survey Shows Improvements in Women's Awareness of Heart Disease and Their Acknowledgement of Personal Risk
A 2006 survey conducted by Lifetime Television, in conjunction with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, found striking improvements in women's awareness of heart disease and their acknowledgment of personal risk. According to the findings, more than half of women correctly identify heart disease as the leading cause of death among women, up from 46 percent in 2003, and 31 percent of women feel that they are personally at risk for heart disease.
* Survey Shows What Diseases Women Fear Most
In a survey commissioned by the Society for Women's Health Research, data shows that women's fear of heart disease has almost doubled since 2002, but breast cancer remains the single most feared disease.
* The Red Dress is a Red Alert
A survey commissioned by WomenHeart: the National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease shows that one in four U.S. women recognizes the Red Dress as the national symbol for women and heart disease awareness. The Red Dress was designed to build awareness that women are at risk; give a sense of hope that women can reduce their risk, and empower them to do so; and provide a clear call to action coupled with a sense of urgency.
* Survey Shows Women are Disappearing into a Cholesterol Gap
A survey of 2,700 women sponsored by the Preventive Cardiovascular Nurses Association found that over 80 percent of respondents did not know their cholesterol numbers. Survey findings identified a need for further education about all relevant cholesterol factors that contribute to heart disease.
* National Study of Physician Awareness and Adherence to Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Guidelines (PDF, 153K)
The primary purpose of this study, published in the AHA journal Circulation, was to determine whether cardiovascular disease (CVD) preventive care varied by patient gender among a random sample of U.S. physicians and whether awareness of and barriers to adoption of CVD prevention guidelines varied by physician specialty (primary care physicians, obstetricians/gynecologists, and cardiologists).
