By Teresa Carr
Adams County Senior Council
Administrative Assistant
From the Office on Women’s Health – Heart Disease and Women
Heart disease is the number one killer of American women. Some heart disease symptoms and risk factors are different for women than men. Some risk factors, such as severe obesity, metabolic syndrome, and depression, happen more often in women. Women also have unique risk factors for heart disease, such as menopause. Some heart disease risk factors, such as diabetes and smoking, are even more dangerous for women. Women do worse after heart attacks compared to men, and women are less likely to join and complete a cardiac rehab program.
Heart disease often has no symptoms you can feel, like pain or shortness of breath. Two out of every three women who die suddenly from heart disease did not have symptoms.
Women can get heart disease at any age, but your risk increases after menopause. This is because until menopause, the ovaries make the hormone estrogen. Estrogen gives premenopausal women some protection against heart disease by keeping blood vessels relaxed and a healthy cholesterol balance.
Women are more likely than men to have more than one symptom of a heart attack. The most common heart attack symptom in women and men is chest pain. However, women are more likely to have at least one of these other heart attack signs.
Many women say that they felt “off” or that something was “just not right” before their heart attack, but they didn’t realize their symptoms could be related to their heart. Not all heart attacks feel the same. Some are sudden and intense. Others may start slowly with mild pain or discomfort, which can come and go over several hours, or get worse.
The subtle signs of a heart attack that no woman should ever ignore:
1. Unusually heavy pressure on the chest, like there’s a ton of weight on you – It can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness, or pain. It may even feel like the worst heartburn or indigestion you’ve ever had. Women may be more likely to use words like “crushing” or “pressing” to describe heart attack chest pain. Some women say it is “discomfort” or a very bad ache.
2. Sharp upper body pain in the neck, back and jaw – This symptom can include pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, shoulders, neck, jaw, or upper part of stomach (not below the belly button). Pain in the back, neck, or jaw is a more common heart attack symptom for women than it is for men.
3. Severe shortness of breath – This symptom can come on suddenly. It can happen while you are resting or not moving around very much. You may struggle to breathe or take deep breaths. Shortness of breath may start before or at the same time as chest pain or discomfort, or may be the only heart attack symptom you have.
4. Cold sweats and you know it’s not menopause – Unexplained or excessive sweating, or breaking out into a “cold sweat,” can be a sign of heart attack.
5. Unusual or unexplained fatigue (tiredness) – Sudden and unusual tiredness or lack of energy is one of the most common symptoms of heart attack in women, and one of the easiest to ignore.
6. Unfamiliar dizziness or light-headedness – Unlike in the movies, most heart attacks do not make you pass out right away. Instead, you may suddenly feel dizzy or light-headed.
7. Unexplained nausea (feeling sick to the stomach) or vomiting – Women are much more likely than men to experience nausea, vomiting, or indigestion during their heart attack.5 Women often dismiss these symptoms, or think that nausea, vomiting, or indigestion is normal. Nausea and vomiting may be signs that something is seriously wrong, especially if you have other heart attack symptoms.
Just A Thought: “Kindness is giving hope to those who think they are all alone in this world.” ~Raktivist
