Young women less likely to be informed of heart disease risk by providers

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-10/acoc-ywl102215.php

Public Release: 26-Oct-2015
Young women less likely to be informed of heart disease risk by providers
Women under 55 less likely to be told they were at-risk, discuss heart disease prior to heart attack
American College of Cardiology

Even when young women had a similar or greater risk for heart disease than young men, they were 11 percent less likely to report that healthcare providers told them they were at-risk for heart disease prior to a heart attack, according to a new study published today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

"Young women who experience a heart attack are more likely to die than men of a similar age," said Erica Leifheit-Limson, Ph.D., the study's lead author and an associate research scientist in chronic disease epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health in New Haven, Connecticut. "Yet, women and their physicians often underestimate the risk of heart disease in women, particularly young women."

A 2012 survey found only 56 percent of women cited heart disease as a leading cause of death for women and less than half considered themselves well-informed about heart disease in women.

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