Why Heart Disease In Women Is So Often Missed

Heart disease is the leading cause of death among men and women in America for 103 years in a row. More than 1 million Americans will suffer from a heart attack this year, and about 150,000 of them will die from it, according to the American Heart Association. Thing is, more than half of the people who have a heart attack don't recognize its symptoms. “People have this idea of the Hollywood heart attack, which is a man squeezing his chest. “So, when people don't have that classic symptom that they've seen or heard about, they think, ‘Well, this must be something else. ’

Women are more likely than men to dismiss the warning signs of heart attack, sometimes waiting hours or longer to call 911 or go to the ER. Women who have heart attacks are less likely to have any chest pain at all. Instead, they often have vague symptoms that is harder to associate with cardiac trouble, like shortness of breath, jaw pain, extreme fatigue, lightheadedness or dizziness, throat pain , toothache, nausea and heartburn and pain in the neck, back or arms like a pulled muscle. If you experience any of these symptoms, you should not wait wondering what is wrong. The longer there is decreased blood flow to the heart, the more likely that there will be irreversible damage to the heart like heart failure, stroke or dangerous arrhythmias.

Women and older adults also tend to have a heart attack without warning signs. (silent heart attack.) the take home message is to pay attention to change patterns in your body. For example, if you’re prone to indigestion and just ate a spicy meal, the burning feeling in your chest is likely heartburn. But if it comes on out of the blue and the symptoms get worse, that’s a warning sign that its not gastrointestinal. That is true for the other vague symptoms too.

Even when women go to the hospital, doctors are more likely to downplay their symptoms or delay rating them. A report by the American Heart Association that heart attacks are deadlier in women who do not exhibit the typical crushing Hollywood type chest pain, in part because both patients and doctors take longer to identify the problem.

TO MAKE THINGS MORE COMPLICATED, WOMEN ARE MORE LIKELY TO HAVE A CONDITION THAT MIMICS A HEART ATTACK.

Women are more likely to have dissections, or tears, in their coronary arteries, which carry similar symptoms to a heart attack, and also myocarditis, inflammation of the heart.

Another type of heart disease that affects women more than men is microvascular disease. Women have smaller hearts and blood vessels than men, and when their smaller vessels get clogged with plaque, blood flow is compromised, causing them to feel like they are having a heart attack.

In conclusion, if you are not feeling right, a symptom that is new and persistent and you think it is an issue with your heart then you should spell it out. Say, I am concerned I am having a heart attack, and I want an EKG and blood work done to rule it out. nobody in the emergency department is going to say you can’t have it.