Preventive medicine
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Preventive medicine · Dec 2000
Comparative StudyIt won't happen to me: lower perception of heart disease risk among women with family histories of breast cancer.
The threat that breast cancer poses to American women, particularly to women with family histories of the disease, has received widespread attention in both medical and popular literatures. While this emphasis may have laudable consequences on breast cancer screening, it may also have a negative consequence, obscuring women's recognition of their risks for other health threats, such as heart disease. This study examined the possibility that women with family histories of breast cancer may be particularly susceptible to overestimating their risks of breast cancer while minimizing their risks of cardiovascular disease. ⋯ The emphasis on breast cancer risk, especially for women with family histories of the disease, may need to be balanced by educational efforts concerning women's risk of other diseases, particularly cardiovascular disease.