How Do Heart Attacks in Women Differ from Men?
According to The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease, heart attacks and heart disease are the number one killer of women, and it is estimated that at least 2/3 of women who die from heart attacks had no prior symptoms of heart problems. Deaths from heart attacks are more likely to occur in woman than men for several reasons. First of all, the medical profession is more focused on breast cancer when it comes to women's health.
Many women are often misdiagnosed by stress testing. According to nbc5i.com website, stress tests are less than 50% accurate in women when diagnosing for heart disease or problems; perhaps if this testing was more accurate, less misdiagnosing would occur. Since women have smaller hearts and arteries, than a man, more damage is likely too occur with a heart attack than that in a man. The symptoms of a heart attack in women often differ than that in a man, and at times treatment in the emergency room comes too late. Quite often women ignore symptoms and put them off as "coming down with the flu" overly tired, or indigestion.
Race also plays an important factor in heart attacks in women. Women who are black have a 69% chance of having a heart attack or heart problems before menopause then Caucasian women; the reasons contributing to this factor are thought to be genetics or socioeconomics.
The American Heart Association list the following as symptoms of a heart attack. People often think of a heart attack as being in serve, intense pain, however this is not always the case. Heart attack usually start slowly, and come and go. People having this type of attack often think it's probably nothing to worry about until its too late. The symptoms warning of a possible heart attack are listed below.
Chest discomfort: This can be mild to severe pain which comes and goes. At times the pain is labeled as squeezing, very uncomfortable, and having the feeling "of someone sitting on your chest."
Pain: Besides in the chest, pain can originate in both arms, back, neck, jaw or in the stomach area.
Other symptoms: Other symptoms associated with a heart attack are shortness of breath, breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or feeling light headed.
The symptoms of a heart attack in women often differ than that in a man. For example only 30% of women have chest pain. Many women complain of not feeling right or having the feeling of doom. Some women state that they felt overly tired, and felt as though that they were coming down with the flu or had a bad case of indigestion; others complained of heart palpitations, and some pain in the back or in the jaw. If you or any one you know has these symptoms call 911 immediately, 911 is the fastest and the quickest way of receiving the treatment that is needed, and the quicker that treatment is started the better chance of surviving the attack.
