Syracuse (WSYR-TV) -- There are encouraging signs that public information campaigns are working. February is women’s heart month and there’s reason to celebrate.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in American women and now, more women than ever before, know that.
The American Heart Association has done a major survey of women’s awareness of heart disease.
After their first survey in 1997, the AHA launched a national education campaign when just 30 percent of women knew that heart disease was the number one killer of women.
By 2012, that number had almost doubled to 56 percent.
When asked what they would do if they thought they were having a heart attack, 65 percent of women said they would call 911. That’s up 12 percent from three years earlier.
Black and Hispanic women have greater heart awareness than in past years, but still lagged behind white women.
The survey’s authors say more work is needed to close that racial gap.
