Y: Yep.

D: Heart disease is a leading cause of death.

Y: Hey, it turns out the sky is blue. Everybody knows heart disease is bad news for all those overweight guys in suits.

D: . . . for women.

Y: Whoops! Did you say heart disease is a leading cause of death for women?

D: More than that: it's not only a leading cause of death, it's the leading cause of death. Women over fifty are more likely to die of heart attacks than anything else.

Y: But I thought heart attacks were a guy thing.

D: You and almost everyone else. A recent American Heart Association poll asked what the leading cause of death in women over fifty was. Guess how many American women got the answer correct?

Y: Not a lot?

D: Only eight percent. Even more alarming, a Gallup poll asked doctors the same question. Only fifty-five percent knew it. That's almost one out of two getting it wrong!

Y: So heart attacks aren't a guy thing?

D: Heart disease happens to women just as much as to men--maybe even more. The number of men dying of heart attacks is dropping, studies show, while the number of women dying of them is on the rise. Some researchers speculate that it has to do with just this lack of understanding that heart disease isn't just a male problem. Men may be getting better prevention and better treatment, while women's warning signs are being missed.