Women and Heart Disease – What Are The Symptoms?

Heart disease, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases are the No. 1 killer of American women- killing nearly 12 times as many American females as breast cancer. More women than men die from cardiovascular diseases each year. 8,000,000 American women are currently living with heart disease. These statistics are staggering and alarming!

So, what are the warning signs? The majority of people think of chest pain when having a heart attack, but there are some that do not experience it. In fact, women are less likely than men to feel chest pain during a heart attack. Studies of hundreds of women that have had heart attacks suggest that women usually have different symptoms- such as back pain, nausea, vomiting and /or fatigue. And that 95% experienced symptoms before the attack. So, even if you’ve already suffered a heart attack, the symptoms of a second attack may not be the same as your first. For this reason, it is important for women to recognize the various signs and symptoms of a heart attack so that they can take immediate action if ever needed.

The common heart attack symptoms are:

Chest Pain - Women often describe their chest pain as pressure, tightness, or an ache. But often, women do not experience severe pain during a heart attack. When chest pain occurs, it usually feels like discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts for more than a few minutes- which may come and go. For this reason, women should take milder chest pain more seriously.

Shortness of breath - this may happen at the same time you have chest pain or before it. Shortness of breath has been found to be more common in women. Studies have shown that those who experienced shortness of breath were 3 to 5 times more likely to die from heart disease than those who did not have this symptom.

Pain - in one or both arms, back, neck or jaw

Nausea, Dizziness, Lightheadedness

Sweating - more common with men

Vomiting

Indigestion

Weakness & Fatigue

***Women who smoke risk having a heart attack 19 years earlier than non-smoking women***

There are many lifesaving heart attack treatments, but they only work best if taken within the first hour after a heart attack begins. Many heart attack patients, especially women, wait 2 hours or more after their symptoms begin before they seek medical help. This delay can result in death or long-lasting heart damage, and it is one of the reasons why women tend to experience worse outcomes after a heart attack than men. Learning to recognize the wide variety of symptoms that may be experienced before and during a heart attack will help you get the treatment you need fast - and may even save your life.