For decades heart disease and heart attacks have been viewed as a man's illness. Most women tend to ignore symptoms because they don't consider heart disease a significant, personal health threat. They mistakenly perceive breast cancer as their biggest enemy, according to a study by the American Heart Association. The truth is heart disease kills more than 500,000 American women annually, compared with about 267,000 from all kinds of cancer, including breast cancer. Despite of the fact, women seek emergency medical help later than men when symptoms occur, raising the chance of dying or having major damage from a heart attack or stroke