A Cleveland Clinic survey finds that although heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, 68% of Americans do not know its the foremost killer of women.

According to the survey, many Americans incorrectly thought breast cancer was the leading cause of death in women, with men especially likely to think this (44% vs. 33%). Among Millennials, 80% could not identify heart disease as the leading cause of death in women. Heart disease accounts for one in every four deaths in the U.S.

The survey also found that many Americans didnt recognize key symptoms of heart attacks in women. Many do not know that chest pain (24%), shortness of breath or sweating (28%), pain in the neck or back of jaw (43%), new or dramatic fatigue (55%) and nausea/ vomiting (60%) are signs of a heart attack in females.

Americans also dont recognize that most heart disease is preventable for both men and women. Even though 90% of heart disease is due to modifiable/controllable risk factors, only 8% of Americans know that.

The survey found theres also a lot of confusion on what steps to take to prevent heart disease and when. The survey found that:

Treatment of heart disease has come a long way in the past few decades, but we still need to work on prevention, said Samir Kapadia, M.D., chairman of Cardiovascular Medicine at Cleveland Clinic. There are so many simple changes that patients and the public can make that can provide significant improvements to their cardiovascular health.

Samir Kapadia, M.D.

Whether it be regarding diet, exercise or other lifestyle factors, we need to continue to educate people about how to take control of their heart health.

Additional survey findings include:

The survey was conducted as part of Cleveland Clinic Heart & Vascular Institutes Love your Heart consumer education campaign in celebration of American Heart Month. Cleveland Clinic has been ranked the No. 1 hospital in the country for cardiology and cardiac surgery for 25 years in a row by US News & World Report.

For more information, go to: clevelandclinic.org/loveyourheart

Methodology Cleveland Clinics survey of the general population gathered insights into Americans perceptions of heart health and prevention. This was an online survey conducted among a national probability sample consisting of 1,000 adults 18 years of age and older, living in the continental United States. The total sample data is nationally representative based on age, gender, ethnicity and educational attainment census data. The online survey was conducted by Dynata and completed between September 23 and September 26, 2018. The margin of error for the total sample at the 95% confidence level is +/- 3.1 percentage points.

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Cleveland Clinic Survey: Most Americans Dont Know Heart Disease Is Leading Cause of Death in Women - Health Essentials from Cleveland Clinic