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.

    调查发现，超过40%的女性不知道心脏病为第一杀手

    2月10日星期三（健康日消息）除了公共关注运动外，美国几乎有一本的女性仍不知心脏病是女性死亡首要原因

    即使关注度已提高，但也只有少于一半的女性会在心脏病发作时打电话紧急求救，据美国心脏协会关于女性公共意识激进运动的最新报告显示。

    "1997年开始我们就取得了很大的进步[在激进运动一开始的时候],但我们还有很长的路要走，"研究小组的领导者Lori Mosca博士说道，Lori Mosca博士是纽约市纽约长老会医院的心脏病预防部的主任。

    举个例子，她说"只有大约一半的女性知道心脏病发作时的病状。"

    研究结果预计会在三月号的发行期刊上公布，名为：心血管发病的病因及后果。

    1997年，调查首次提出时，只有30%的女性意识到心脏疾病是女性死亡中的首因。2009年，意识到这一点的女性达到54%.然而，2006年开始这个数字有所下降，因为57%的女性说心脏疾病对她们的健康是最大的威胁。

    调查显示，种族差异仍然存在，虽然种族差异的意识已逐渐缩小。只有43%的黑人妇女和44%的美籍西班牙女性能正确定义心脏疾病，把心脏疾病当成是女性头号杀手。然而，这些数字从1997年之后有了较大增长，意识率有所差异，各为15%和20%.

    新调查中还有另外一些重要发现，包括：

    百分八十五的女性说她们在过去曾见过，听过或是阅读过有关心脏疾病的东西。

    只有53%的女性说她们一旦出现心脏病病状会致电911.

    只有超过一半的女性说对心脏疾病采取预防措施会受到最大干扰，这个干扰来自家庭和监护责任。

    女性正在逐步采取重要的保护措施，比如看医生，测量血压。但是，许多女性也依赖未经证实有效的措施来预防心脏疾病。例如82%的人会说香料按摩很管用，调查显示。

    "尽管一些间接和完全的治疗也有一些效果，但这些相对于关掉电视去散步来说，相形见绌。"Pamela Marcovitz博士说，她是密歇根皇家橡树Beaumont 医院， Ministrelli妇女心脏中心的医学主任，"人们运动的时候，即使一周大部分时间都是适度运动，她们也会难以置信地看上去更加健康长寿。"

    Mosca 和Marcovitz都表示，专家必须得找出新的方法来取得心脏疾病预防的信息。Mosca说在社区中心这样的场所，让女性告诉女性相关信息会有帮助。她还说用西班牙语来告知相关信息也很重要。Marcavitz则说社交网站可能也能有效传播心脏健康信息。

    两位医生都说假如你胸部疼痛--且它感觉起来并不太像病痛，可能就是压力或挤压的感觉--不出几分钟，你就需要致电911.女性也可能有一些不同以往的病状，比如有想呕吐感或是下巴痛。

    "如果你有这些病状，打电话吧，"Marcovitz建议道。"严肃对待你的这些病状。即使那不是心脏病发作，你也仍需正确的心脏病检查。"

    Mosca再次重复自己的建议，"大多数女性也知道发现情况不注意是不对的，但她们却不想打扰别人。我们建议你赶紧拨打911,就算是个误会也不要忽略。"她说。