Many Americans have dangerous misconceptions about heart failure
Lots of confusion over heart failure v. heart attack
Nearly six million Americans currently live with heart failure, yet a recent national survey found potentially dangerous misconceptions and knowledge gaps about the disease. In fact, nearly half of those surveyed got fundamental facts about heart failure wrong and two-thirds of respondents confused signs of heart failure with signs of a heart attack.
The American Heart Association, with support from Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, commissioned the survey of more than 1,600 people as the first in an annual review of heart failure knowledge and attitudes in America. Survey respondents included the general public, as well as people living with heart failure and those who care for them.