6 Heart Attack Symptoms in Women You Should Never Ignore
Knowing these subtle warnings could help save your life
When a heart attack strikes, speedy treatment is key. But findings in the European Heart Journal reveal that women wait longer than to seek medical attention for heart attacks—and failure to recognize sneaky female symptoms is a major reason. Here, cardiologists share the heart attack warning signs women should be aware of and the lifesaving steps to take if you experience them.
What causes a heart attack?
Heart attacks strike an estimated 3.2 million women in the U.S. annually. Also known as myocardial infarctions, they typically occur due to atherosclerosis, or plaque build-up in artery walls. “When plaque becomes unstable and breaks, it can form a blood clot, which prevents the heart muscle from getting enough oxygen,” explains Miami cardiologist Leonard Pianko, MD.
Factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity, lack of physical activity and a family history of heart disease are well-known risk factors for heart disease in both women and men. But women’s heart attack risk climbs more rapidly than men’s after age 50, according to research in the Journal of Women & Aging.
Woman's World Answers
Why? A menopausal decline in estrogen, notes Estelle Jean, MD, a cardiologist at Medstar Health. “Estrogen helps blood vessels remain flexible, and decreases in this hormone level can lead to stiffening of arteries,” she explains. Plus, declining estrogen ups the odds of high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes, all of which encourage fatty plaque formation in arteries.
6 heart attack symptoms in women
Chest pain or discomfort (such as pressure, heaviness or a squeezing sensation) is the most common heart attack symptom in women and men alike. In fact, research in Circulation found it occurred in 87 percent of female and 90 percent of male heart attack patients.
But as Dr. Pianko notes, “while chest pain is the most common symptom of a heart attack in men and women, women are more likely than men to have atypical symptoms.”
Of course, that doesn’t mean that every ache or pain signals heart trouble. But if you experience a subtle sign of a heart attack alongside chest pain or one or more of the symptoms below, it’s important to seek medical help (more on that later).
Here, six important heart attack symptoms women need to know:
1. Neck, jaw, shoulder or upper back pain
A study in the journal Circulation found these symptoms were significantly more common among women than men—and 68 percent of women reported them. But the pain can easily be confused with muscle pain due to exertion. Case in point: When Yale University experts conducted a study on heart attack survivors, one woman attributed her shoulder pain to sleeping in the wrong position.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that every twinge in your back signals heart trouble. But if this symp
2. Pain in one or both arms
Pain in the left arm is a classic warning sign of a heart attack, but pain can also occur in either or both arms. And it’s one of the most revealing heart attack symptoms in women: A report in the Journal of the American Heart Association found arm pain to be a stronger heart attack predictor in women than men. And Swedish investigators found that arm pain in female heart attack sufferers was so severe, some women had difficulty moving their arms.
3. Shortness of breath
Breathlessness or difficulty breathing was one of the top “non chest-pain” symptoms of heart attack in women identified by Yale University researchers. And while experts reporting in The Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing found that shortness of breath in women worsened at night or when engaging in activities such as walking or climbing stairs, some didn’t notice their breathing trouble until someone else brought it to their attention.
4. Nausea, vomiting or indigestion
In the same study, these gastrointestinal symptoms were found to be more than twice as common in women than men. But many women who experienced GI distress due to a heart attack mistakenly believed their symptoms were caused by something they ate or drank, one study showed.
5. Lightheadedness or dizziness
As many as 24 percent of women experience dizziness or vertigo when having a heart attack, according to a study in Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine. Yet an American Heart Association survey found that less than six percent of women were aware that dizziness was one of the symptoms of a heart attack.
6. Weakness or fatigue
Unexplained or unusual fatigue is a symptom that can signal an oncoming heart attack, say experts reporting in the journal Circulation. Their survey of women found that 70 percent reported feeling fatigued for more than one month prior to having a heart attack. But women frequently attribute fatigue and other heart attack symptoms to anxiety or stress, making it easy to miss.
What to do if you experience heart attack symptoms
“If you or someone nearby is experiencing any heart attack symptoms, please call 911 immediately,” Dr. Jean urges. “Minutes matter when it comes to treating a heart attack, so it’s always better to seek immediate medical attention than to wait and risk further damage to the heart muscle.”
Once the ambulance arrives, paramedics or emergency medical technicians (EMTs) will quickly assess your condition. “This includes asking about symptoms, checking vital signs such as blood pressure, heart rate and respiration and taking a medical history,” says Dr. Jean. They may also do an electrocardiogram (EKG) to check your heart rhythm and administer oxygen and medications such as blood thinners and/or nitroglycerin on the way to the hospital.
What to expect at the hospital
When you get to the emergency room, doctors will recheck your vital signs, repeat an EKG and continue to administer medications. “Then they’re going to do other things such as bloodwork and a chest x-ray, as well as consulting with a cardiologist on the next steps,” says Dr. Jean.
Those steps may include using cardiac catheterization (threading a thin tube into an artery in the groin, arm, wrist or neck and guiding it to the heart) to check for arterial blockages. If necessary, the interventionist in the cardiac catheterization lab may perform minimally-invasive procedures known as coronary angioplasty and stenting to open up blockages in one or more coronary arteries.
The good news, according to experts reporting in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Thanks to advancements in speedy treatment, your odds of surviving a heart attack can top 90 percent.
Conversation
All comments are subject to our Community Guidelines. Woman's World does not endorse the opinions and views shared by our readers in our comment sections. Our comments section is a place where readers can engage in healthy, productive, lively, and respectful discussions. Offensive language, hate speech, personal attacks, and/or defamatory statements are not permitted. Advertising or spam is also prohibited.
