Young women less aware of health risks

A new survey published by the medical journal, Circulation has shown that heart disease awareness amongst women has improved in the last 15 years. Women are increasingly aware of risks posed by contracting heart disease, which is the leading cause of death in the USA, UK, Canada and Australia. However the survey has shown that young women and ethnic minority women are unaware that heart disease the primary cause of death. Heart disease is an umbrella term which includes various different heart disorders and results in nearly a quarter of the deaths that occur in the USA. The online and phone surveys assessed the women's lifestyle, awareness of leading causes of death, and understanding of heart disease and compared these variables with a survey conducted in 1997. Whilst there was a marked increase amongst women that heart disease was the number one cause of human deaths (54 percent in 2012 compared with only 30 percent in 1997), awareness of heart disease is still wanting in African-Caribbean women and Hispanic women. Only 36 percent of African-Caribbean women, and 34 percent of Hispanic women were aware of the risks of heart disease. The lowest awareness was amongst women aged between 24 and 36 years. These women were more likely to suggest cancer as the leading cause of death.