PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

There's room for improvement in women's heart disease awareness

American Heart Association/Circulation Special Report

2013-02-19
(Press-News.org) The number of women aware that heart disease is the leading cause of death has nearly doubled in the last 15 years, but that knowledge still lags in minorities and younger women, according to a new study in the American Heart Association journal Circulation.

Researchers comparing women's views about heart disease in 1997 and today, found: In 2012, 56 percent of women identified heart disease as the leading cause of death compared with 30 percent in 1997. In 1997, women were more likely to cite cancer than heart disease as the leading killer (35 percent versus 30 percent); but in 2012, only 24 percent cited cancer. In 2012, 36 percent of black women and 34 percent of Hispanic women identified heart disease as the top killer — awareness levels that white women had in 1997 (33 percent). Women 25-34 years old had the lowest awareness rate of any age group at 44 percent.

The study showed barriers and motivators to engage in a heart healthy lifestyle are different for younger women, who also said their doctors were less likely to talk to them about heart disease.

"This is a missed opportunity," said Lori Mosca, M.D, M.P.H., Ph.D., lead author of the study. "Habits established in younger women can have lifelong rewards. We need to speak to the new generation, and help them understand that living heart healthy is going to help them feel better, not just help them live longer. So often the message is focused on how many women are dying from heart disease, but we need to be talking about how women are going to live — and live healthier."

In August-October 2012, researchers conducted online and telephone surveys with more than 1,200 women, 25 and older. They compared results from surveys taken in 1997, 2000, 2003, 2006 and 2009. The survey assessed women's lifestyle, awareness of the leading cause of death and warning signs of a heart attack, and what they would do if they experienced heart attack symptoms.

Among the women surveyed: 61 percent said the reason they would take preventive action was to feel better, compared to 45 percent who would be motivated to take preventive action in order to live longer. Racial and ethnic minorities reported higher levels of trust in their healthcare providers compared with whites, and were also more likely to act on the information provided dispelling the myth that mistrust of providers contributes to disparities. Self-reported depression was common (26 percent) among respondents and has been previously reported as a barrier to adherence to medical guidelines. Compared with older women, younger women were more likely to report not discussing heart disease risk with their doctors (6 percent among those 25-34 versus 33 percent for those 65 and older).

Mosca said efforts need to be age-appropriate and culturally sensitive to reach younger women and more minorities who are at high risk for heart disease.

"There are gaps between women's personal awareness and what they're doing in terms of preventive steps," said Mosca, director of preventive cardiology at New York-Presbyterian Hospital and professor of Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center. "The American Heart Association has well-established, evidence-based guidelines about heart disease prevention, so we have to better align women's actions with what is evidence-based." INFORMATION:

Co-authors are Michelle A. Albert, M.D., M.P.H.; Gmerice Hammond, M.D,; Jean Harvey-Berino, Ph.D.; Jean McSweeney, Ph.D., R.N.; Heidi Mochari-Greenberger, Ph;D.; M.P.H., R.D.; Jane Reckelhoff, Ph.D.; Mathew J. Reeves, Ph.D.; Amy Towfighi, M.D.; and Judy L. Bezanson, D.S.N., R.N. Author disclosures are on the manuscript.

The National Institutes of Health funded the study.

The American Heart Association's Go Red For Women movement encourages women of all ages to know and reduce their risk for heart disease and provides tools to lead a heart healthy life. The campaign, now entering its 10th year, offers a variety of ways to become actively involved in helping all women make healthier choices.

Statements and conclusions of study authors published in American Heart Association scientific journals are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect the association's policy or position. The association makes no representation or guarantee as to their accuracy or reliability. The association receives funding primarily from individuals; foundations and corporations (including pharmaceutical, device manufacturers and other companies) also make donations and fund specific association programs and events. The association has strict policies to prevent these relationships from influencing the science content. Revenues from pharmaceutical and device corporations are available at www.heart.org/corporatefunding.



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Data paper describes Antarctic biodiversity data gathered by 90 expeditions since 1956

Data paper describes Antarctic biodiversity data gathered by 90 expeditions since 1956
2013-02-19
A new peer-reviewed data paper offers a comprehensive, open-access collection of georeferenced biological information about the Antarctic macrobenthic communities. The term macrobenthic refers to the visible-for-the-eye organisms that live near or on the sea bottom such as echinoderms, sponges, ascidians, crustaceans. The paper will help in coordinating biodiversity research and conservation activities on species living near the ocean bottom of the Antarctic. The data paper "Antarctic macrobenthic communities: A compilation of circumpolar information", published in the ...

Phosphorus starvation linked to symptoms of citrus disease Huanglongbing in new study

2013-02-19
The citrus disease Huanglongbing (HLB), meaning "yellow shoot disease" in Chinese and also called citrus greening in English-speaking countries, is the most destructive disease threatening the citrus industry worldwide. Powerful diagnostic tools and management strategies are desired to control it. A new study, 'Small RNA profiling reveals phosphorus deficiency as a contributing factor in symptom expression for citrus Huanglongbing disease', published online today (Friday) in the journal Molecular Plant profiled small Ribonucleic Acids (sRNAs) from both diseased and healthy ...

Moffitt researchers say silencing of retinoblastoma gene regulates differentiation of myeloid cells

2013-02-19
Researchers at the Moffitt Cancer Center have found a potential mechanism by which immune suppressive myeloid-derived suppressor cells can prevent immune response from developing in cancer. This mechanism includes silencing the tumor suppressor gene retinoblastoma 1 or Rb1. Their data explains a new regulatory mechanism by which myeloid-derived suppressor cells are expanded in cancer. Their study appeared in a recent issue of Nature Immunology. According to the authors, two kinds of myeloid-derived suppressor cells - monocytic M-MDSCs and granulocytic PMN-MDSCs - regulate ...

New scorpion discovery near metropolitan Tucson, Arizona

New scorpion discovery near metropolitan Tucson, Arizona
2013-02-19
A new species of scorpion, Vaejovis brysoni, was found in the Santa Catalina Mountains in southern Arizona. Another scorpion of the same group also inhabits this mountain range, making this the first documented case of two vorhiesi group species distributed on the same mountain. The study was published in the open access, peer-reviewed journal Zookeys. These mountains overlook the city of Tucson, Arizona. Amazingly, in the 21st century, there are still new species to be discovered right here in the United States. What is even more surprising is that the new species was ...

Using mouthrinse reduces plaque and gingivitis more than toothbrushing alone

2013-02-19
CHICAGO (Feb. 19, 2013)—New research published in the January/February 2013 issue of General Dentistry, the peer-reviewed clinical journal of the Academy of General Dentistry (AGD), indicates that the use of a germ-killing mouthrinse in addition to regular toothbrushing can significantly reduce plaque and gingivitis, more so than brushing alone. "It's simple—mouthrinses can reach nearly 100 percent of the mouth's surfaces, while brushing focuses on the teeth, which make up only 25 percent of the mouth," says Christine A. Charles, RDH, BS, lead author of the study and ...

Genetic signs of alcoholism in women studied for the first time

Genetic signs of alcoholism in women studied for the first time
2013-02-19
This press release is available in Spanish. Research done at the UPV/EHU-University of the Basque Country has determined the frequency of genetic variants linked to alcoholism for the Spanish population, and its incidence not only in individuals with a high level of alcohol intake, but also in individuals with alcohol dependence. Furthermore, the broad presence of women in the sample has made it possible, for the first time, to associate some of these genetic variants with a high level of alcohol intake in women. The results have been published in various top, international ...

Coming to a smartphone near you: Personalized experiences

2013-02-19
CHESTNUT HILL, MA (February 19, 2013) – Say au revoir to the concierge. The proliferation of technology focused on finding the best tickets, the hottest restaurants or the next flight out of town may mean it's time to bid adieu to the concierge and other traditional service information gatekeepers, according to new research. Face-to-face interactions with front desk clerks and concierges are not essential for personalized service, and increasingly these encounters are being substituted with Smartphone apps and other automated service systems, according to a study in ...

'Growing' medicines in plants requires new regulations

2013-02-19
Scientists say amending an EU directive on GMOs could help stimulate innovation in making vaccines, cheaper pharmaceuticals and organic plastics using plants. In a paper to be published in Current Pharmaceutical Design, six scientists from the US and Europe compare risk assessment and regulation between the two continents. They will run a web chat on the subject with Sense About Science from 12-1 on Wednesday 20th February. In the EU, plant-made pharmaceuticals have to be authorised in the same way as GM agricultural crops. In theory, agricultural crops can be grown ...

Quick, efficient chip cleans up common flaws in amateur photographs

2013-02-19
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Your smartphone snapshots could be instantly converted into professional-looking photographs with just the touch of a button, thanks to a processor chip developed at MIT. The chip, built by a team at MIT's Microsystems Technology Laboratory, can perform tasks such as creating more realistic or enhanced lighting in a shot without destroying the scene's ambience, in just a fraction of a second. The technology could be integrated with any smartphone, tablet computer or digital camera. Existing computational photography systems tend to be software applications ...

Abnormal growth regulation may occur in children with heart defects

2013-02-19
The poor growth seen in children born with complex heart defects may result from factors beyond deficient nutrition. A new study by pediatric researchers suggests that abnormalities in overall growth regulation play a role. "When compared with their healthy peers, children with congenital heart disease have impaired growth, as measured in weight, length, and head circumference," said senior author Meryl S. Cohen, M.D., a pediatric cardiologist in the Cardiac Center at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "We investigated patterns of poor growth in these children, ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Are lifetimes of big appliances really shrinking?

Pink skies

Monkeys are world’s best yodellers - new research

Key differences between visual- and memory-led Alzheimer’s discovered

% weight loss targets in obesity management – is this the wrong objective?

An app can change how you see yourself at work

NYC speed cameras take six months to change driver behavior, effects vary by neighborhood, new study reveals

New research shows that propaganda is on the rise in China

Even the richest Americans face shorter lifespans than their European counterparts, study finds

Novel genes linked to rare childhood diarrhea

New computer model reveals how Bronze Age Scandinavians could have crossed the sea

Novel point-of-care technology delivers accurate HIV results in minutes

Researchers reveal key brain differences to explain why Ritalin helps improve focus in some more than others

Study finds nearly five-fold increase in hospitalizations for common cause of stroke

Study reveals how alcohol abuse damages cognition

Medicinal cannabis is linked to long-term benefits in health-related quality of life

Microplastics detected in cat placentas and fetuses during early pregnancy

Ancient amphibians as big as alligators died in mass mortality event in Triassic Wyoming

Scientists uncover the first clear evidence of air sacs in the fossilized bones of alvarezsaurian dinosaurs: the "hollow bones" which help modern day birds to fly

Alcohol makes male flies sexy

TB patients globally often incur "catastrophic costs" of up to $11,329 USD, despite many countries offering free treatment, with predominant drivers of cost being hospitalization and loss of income

Study links teen girls’ screen time to sleep disruptions and depression

Scientists unveil starfish-inspired wearable tech for heart monitoring

Footprints reveal prehistoric Scottish lagoons were stomping grounds for giant Jurassic dinosaurs

AI effectively predicts dementia risk in American Indian/Alaska Native elders

First guideline on newborn screening for cystic fibrosis calls for changes in practice to improve outcomes

Existing international law can help secure peace and security in outer space, study shows

Pinning down the process of West Nile virus transmission

UTA-backed research tackles health challenges across ages

In pancreatic cancer, a race against time

[Press-News.org] There's room for improvement in women's heart disease awareness
American Heart Association/Circulation Special Report