Myth of the ‘widowmaker’: Why heart disease is often missed in women

Heart disease is the number one cause of death for women throughout the world. Approximately seven times more women will die of heart disease than breast cancer. Even in women with breast cancer, dying from heart disease is a leading cause of death.
Yet, when I ask undergraduate students in my chronic disease class (most of whom are female) which disease causes the most deaths in women, only about half give the answer heart disease. A third say it is breast cancer.
This mirrors a 2012 survey from the United States, which found that only 56% of female respondents identified heart disease as the leading cause of death.
Such a lack of awareness has very real consequences. Women who experience a heart attack in the United States are more likely to misunderstand the symptoms and delay seeking treatment. In Canada, early heart attack signs were missed in 78% of women, according to the 2018 Heart Report from the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation.