This year, almost half a million women will die of cardiovascular diseases - that's nearly equivalent to the entire population of Wyoming. And more than 40,000 women - about the population of Casper, Wyoming - will die of breast cancer.

Despite these statistics, there is still a need for awareness. While the No. 1 killer of American women, only 13 percent of women in the United States see heart disease as the greatest threat to their health. Even more surprising, less than one in five physicians know that more women than men die of heart disease each year - and only eight percent of primary care physicians are aware of this fact.

As for breast cancer, misperceptions abound, from the belief that mammograms detect 100 percent of all breast cancers to the belief that breast cancer does not occur in young women. But this much is clear: a woman's best line of defense against breast cancer remains early detection through screenings and examinations as prescribed by their physicians.

A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that advances in breast cancer screenings contributed significantly to the 20 percent reduction in the U.S. breast cancer death rate between 1975 and 2000. And when breast cancer is detected early and confined to the breast, the five-year survival rate is almost 100 percent.

Advances in diagnostic technology have given physicians even more tools to detect disease earlier, make more confident diagnoses and provide more personalized treatment. While traditional screening mammography has long been considered the gold standard in detecting breast cancer, digital mammography is allowing radiologists to manipulate images for a more accurate assessment and diagnosis. A recent study sponsored by the National Cancer Institute suggests digital mammography detects up to 28 percent more cancers than traditional mammography for women under the age of 50 or with dense breasts.

Other technologies, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ultrasound and the hybrid positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET·CT) are valuable tools in diagnosing breast cancer. MRI for example, is helping physicians examine abnormalities first detected by mammography, breast implants and the breast tissue of young women. Siemens’ breakthrough breast ultrasound technology elastography is expected to enable physicians to accurately distinguish characteristics of breast lesions, which may reduce reliance on invasive breast biopsy procedures.

And advanced cardiac imaging technologies, such as the SOMATOM® Definition dual-source computed tomography (CT) scanner, are helping physicians pinpoint heart disease earlier, with greater precision and without surgery.

*According to reports by the American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, National Cancer Institute

FAST FACTS*

• One woman in eight who lives to age 85 will develop breast cancer during her lifetime.
• Breast cancer is the leading cause of death in women between the ages of 40 and 55.
• The American Cancer Society estimates that about 213,000 women in the United States are diagnosed with invasive breast cancer each year.
• In 2003, 41,566 females in the U.S. died of breast cancer.
• In 2003, all cardiovascular diseases combined claimed the lives of 483,842 females, with coronary heart disease accounting for 233,886 deaths.
• One in three female adults has some form of cardiovascular disease.
• 64 percent of women who died suddenly of coronary heart disease had no previous symptoms.