Be Aware of Subtle Heart Attack Symptoms
Heart disease is the leading cause of death among women in the United States, and women may be twice as likely as men to experience a fatal heart attack. Despite this, the misconception that heart disease and heart attacks are more of a man’s problem is still prevalent, and women spend a lot more time worrying about and getting tested for breast cancer than they do monitoring and treating heart-related issues such as cholesterol and blood sugar.
Why is this so? For one thing, women are less likely to survive a heart attack because they don’t recognize the atypical symptoms that are specific to heart attacks in women. Women also wait too long to go to the ER. A woman might be having a heart attack if she has pain in her arms, shoulder, upper back, abdomen, neck, jaw, or chest. Other signs of heart attack in women (such as vomiting, shortness of breath, lightheadedness, weakness, exhaustion, and indigestion) could be confused with any number of illnesses—including a stomach bug or common cold. However, because the symptoms of heart attack in women are somewhat ambiguous, it’s not uncommon for them to be ignored.
In fact, a recent study showed that women who were experiencing heart attack symptoms waited more than two days before heading to the hospital, whereas men went to the hospital about a day and a half sooner. Another study showed that women are more likely to call an ambulance if their husband is having heart attack symptoms than if they are. Some of these discrepancies can be chalked up to the fact that women’s heart attack symptoms are often subtle and do not always include the crushing chest pain that most people associate with this coronary event—but sometimes they do.
It is critical to understand that heart disease and heart attack pose a major risk for women, and that being familiar with both the typical—and atypical—signs of heart attack can literally save your life. Take this information to heart and share it with your mothers, sisters, daughters, and friends. Recognizing and acknowledging symptoms of a heart attack, calling 911, and quickly getting to the hospital are all within your reach.
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