By Serena Gordon

    HealthDay Reporter

    WEDNESDAY, Feb. 10 （HealthDay News） -- Despite public awareness campaigns, almost half of all American women still don't know that heart disease is the leading cause of death in women, new research finds.

    Even more concerning, only slightly more than half of women would call for emergency help if they were having heart attack symptoms, according to the latest survey for the American Heart Association's Go Red For Women public awareness campaign.

    "We've made a lot of progress since 1997 [when the Go Red campaign first began], but we still have a long way to go," said lead researcher Dr. Lori Mosca, director of preventive cardiology at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City.

    For example, she said, "Only about half of women knew what heart attack symptoms are."

    Results of the study are scheduled to be published in the March issue of Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.

    In 1997, when the survey was first conducted, just 30 percent of women realized that heart disease was the leading cause of death in women. In 2009, that number was 54 percent. However, that number is down slightly from 2006 when 57 percent of women said that heart disease was the biggest threat to their health.

    Young women were more likely to believe that breast cancer was their biggest potential health threat. Thirty-four percent of women between the ages of 25 and 34 thought breast cancer was more of a threat than heart disease, compared to 22 percent of women over 65 who felt that way.

    Racial disparities still exist, though the racial gap in awareness is narrowing, according to the survey. Just 43 percent of black women and 44 percent of Hispanic women correctly identified heart disease as the leading killer of women. However, those numbers were significantly increased from 1997, when the rates of awareness were 15 percent and 20 percent, respectively.

    Other important findings from the new survey include:

    Eighty-five percent of women said they had seen, heard or read about heart disease during the past year.

    Only 53 percent of women said they would call 911 if they were having heart attack symptoms.

    Just over half of women said the biggest barrier to taking preventive steps against heart disease were family and care-taking responsibilities.

    Women are taking important preventive steps such as seeing their doctors and having their blood pressure checked. However, many women are relying on unproven strategies to prevent heart disease, as well. For example, 82 percent said they believed that fish oil would help them prevent heart disease, and 29 percent said aromatherapy could be helpful, according to the survey.

    "Although there may be some benefit to alternative and complementary therapies, they pale in comparison to turning off the TV and going out for a walk," said Dr. Pamela Marcovitz, medical director of the Ministrelli Women's Heart Center at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich. "When people exercise even moderately most days of the week, they're incredibly more likely to be healthier and live longer."

    Both Mosca and Marcovitz said that experts have to find new ways to get the message of heart disease prevention out to more people. Mosca said that having women tell their stories to other women at places like community centers could be helpful. She said it's also important to have information available in Spanish. Marcovitz said that social networking sites may also prove useful for spreading heart health messages.

    Both doctors said that if you have chest pain -- and it may not always feel like pain; it could be pressure or a squeezing sensation -- that doesn't go away after a few minutes, you need to call 911. Women also may have more unusual symptoms, such as feeling nauseous or having jaw pain.

    "If you're having symptoms, make the phone call," advised Marcovitz. "Take your symptoms seriously. Even if it's not a heart attack, you'll still get the right cardiology work-up."

    Mosca echoed that advice. "Most women know something isn't right, but they don't want to bother anyone. We'd rather you called 911, even if it's a false alarm," she said.

    調查發現，超過40%的女性不知道心臟病為第一殺手

    2月10日星期三（健康日消息）除了公共關注運動外，美國幾乎有一本的女性仍不知心臟病是女性死亡首要原因

    即使關注度已提高，但也只有少于一半的女性會在心臟病發作時打電話緊急求救，據美國心臟協會關于女性公共意識激進運動的最新報告顯示。

    "1997年開始我們就取得了很大的進步[在激進運動一開始的時候],但我們還有很長的路要走，"研究小組的領導者Lori Mosca博士說道，Lori Mosca博士是紐約市紐約長老會醫院的心臟病預防部的主任。

    舉個例子，她說"只有大約一半的女性知道心臟病發作時的病狀。"

    研究結果預計會在三月號的發行期刊上公布，名為：心血管發病的病因及后果。

    1997年，調查首次提出時，只有30%的女性意識到心臟疾病是女性死亡中的首因。2009年，意識到這一點的女性達到54%.然而，2006年開始這個數字有所下降，因為57%的女性說心臟疾病對她們的健康是最大的威脅。

    調查顯示，種族差異仍然存在，雖然種族差異的意識已逐漸縮小。只有43%的黑人婦女和44%的美籍西班牙女性能正確定義心臟疾病，把心臟疾病當成是女性頭號殺手。然而，這些數字從1997年之后有了較大增長，意識率有所差異，各為15%和20%.

    新調查中還有另外一些重要發現，包括：

    百分八十五的女性說她們在過去曾見過，聽過或是閱讀過有關心臟疾病的東西。

    只有53%的女性說她們一旦出現心臟病病狀會致電911.

    只有超過一半的女性說對心臟疾病采取預防措施會受到最大干擾，這個干擾來自家庭和監護責任。

    女性正在逐步采取重要的保護措施，比如看醫生，測量血壓。但是，許多女性也依賴未經證實有效的措施來預防心臟疾病。例如82%的人會說香料按摩很管用，調查顯示。

    "盡管一些間接和完全的治療也有一些效果，但這些相對于關掉電視去散步來說，相形見絀。"Pamela Marcovitz博士說，她是密歇根皇家橡樹Beaumont 醫院， Ministrelli婦女心臟中心的醫學主任，"人們運動的時候，即使一周大部分時間都是適度運動，她們也會難以置信地看上去更加健康長壽。"

    Mosca 和Marcovitz都表示，專家必須得找出新的方法來取得心臟疾病預防的信息。Mosca說在社區中心這樣的場所，讓女性告訴女性相關信息會有幫助。她還說用西班牙語來告知相關信息也很重要。Marcavitz則說社交網站可能也能有效傳播心臟健康信息。

    兩位醫生都說假如你胸部疼痛--且它感覺起來并不太像病痛，可能就是壓力或擠壓的感覺--不出幾分鐘，你就需要致電911.女性也可能有一些不同以往的病狀，比如有想嘔吐感或是下巴痛。

    "如果你有這些病狀，打電話吧，"Marcovitz建議道。"嚴肅對待你的這些病狀。即使那不是心臟病發作，你也仍需正確的心臟病檢查。"

    Mosca再次重復自己的建議，"大多數女性也知道發現情況不注意是不對的，但她們卻不想打擾別人。我們建議你趕緊撥打911,就算是個誤會也不要忽略。"她說。