Women's Health Fears Often Don't Line Up With Reality

July 7, 2005 — -- A new study finds the diseases women fear are not necessarily the disease they are most likely to die from.

Women were most afraid of cancer in general, the Society for Women's Health Research survey found, but in fact heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women in America. Only about 10 percent of women said heart disease was their biggest fear. This figure is up from 5 percent in 2002.

"It's good news that the percentage of women who fear heart disease has raised significantly," said Dr. Paula Johnson, chief of the Division of Women's Health at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. "Although clearly there's a ways to go."

Confusion About Cancer

Of all cancers, breast cancer was the most feared, far outweighing the fears of all other cancers combined. "It's a tribute to the breast cancer groups that they've been able to get their message out there," said Sherry Marts, of the Society for Women's Health Research in Washington, D.C., the group that conducted the survey.

But while breast cancer does kill almost 40,000 women a year, it is not the deadliest form of the disease. That dubious title belongs to lung cancer, which claims the lives of nearly 70,000 women a year.

Lung cancer ranked seventh among women's biggest health fears. Lung diseases such as emphysema were conspicuously absent from the list of fears, though they rank fourth in the list of fatal disease.

There were mismatched fears among other cancers as well. Women were more fearful of ovarian cancer than colon cancer, though colon cancer kills almost twice as many women.

"For women, it's sort of a reality check," Marts said. She worries that women have tended to ignore their risk for diseases such as lung and colon cancer, which are more often associated with men.

Marts says that despite these misconceptions, it is important that women are aware of their cancer risks and are openly talking about the subject. "In my mother's generation, you couldn't even say the word."

The Message Gets Through

While fear of HIV/AIDS took the fourth place spot, it does not rank among the list of top 10 killers for all American women.

But the study did show a significantly great fear of the disease among black women than white women (29.3 percent versus 5.8 percent, respectively), reflecting the fact that AIDS in on the rise in that population.

Johnson said that this is an encouraging sign. "A lot of the messages that have been worked on by advocacy groups are really getting through."

Marts hopes that these results will not only encourage increased awareness of conditions like heart disease and lung cancer, but also encourage women to take steps in preventing their worst fears from materializing.

"What gets frustrating," said Marts, "is when you see mortality rates so high for something you know is -- to some extent -- preventable."

Both Johnson and Marts think that the awareness will likely come from women themselves, pointing to the success of the breast cancer advocacy groups.

Johnson hopes that women will begin to see the need "to mobilize around many other health issues that affect their lives in really devastating ways."