When it comes to heart disease and heart attack in women, there are lots of misconceptions out there. The surprising thing is that these misconceptions are not only held by women but by doctors as well. Hopefully with better understanding of women heart disease and heart attacks, we will see a decline in death rate in women due to heart disease.
Misconceptions
The number one misconception is that heart disease is not that prevalent amongst women. The fact is that heart disease is the number one threat to women’s health. In fact, every year since 1984, more women have died due to heart disease than men.
In a recent survey, less than half the doctors surveyed considered heart disease to be a serious threat to the female patients. This means that there are many women out there who are not receiving proper medical advice on reducing heart disease risk. Obviously, this leads to lot of preventable deaths.
The second misconception relates to heart attack symptoms in women. Many doctors are not familiar with heart diseases and heart attack symptoms associated with women. There is a misconception that women experience heart attack just the way men do. Again, this misconception leads to a high death rate amongst women.
Recent Statistics
Recent women heart attacks survival statistics show that heart attack is the third leading cause of death in women between the ages of 25-44. In the age group of 45-64, heart attack is the second leading cause of death in women.
According to a recent research by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), women often experience new physical symptoms as long as a month or more before heart attacks. Not only this, women experience different physical symptoms during heart attacks. It is thus very important that we recognize the symptoms associated with heart attacks in women.
Symptoms Experienced Before Heart Attacks
According to the study by NIH, 95 percent of the women studied reported that they were aware of new or different symptoms a month or so before their heart attacks. The symptoms that they experienced include:
• Unusual fatigue- experienced by 70.6 percent of the women.
• Sleep disturbances- reported by 47.8 percent.
• Shortness of breath- reported by 42.1 percent.
• Indigestion- in 39 percent of the women.
• Anxiety- in 35% of the women.
The problem is that many women ignore these symptoms and think these are due to stress, anxiety, or aging. So, many of them end up not seeking medical attention in time and this obviously has disastrous consequences.
Women Heart Attack Symptoms
Many women during a heart attack do not feel any chest pain. Furthermore, some women experience all the symptoms of heart attack, while some only experience some of them. Then on the other hand, there are women who experience no symptoms at all. In comparison to men, women are more likely to have “silent” heart attacks. Their heart attacks are diagnosed only when they experience more serious symptoms. In women, the warning signs of a heart attack include the following:
• Sudden unexplained sweating and feeling cold and clammy
• Nausea and vomiting
• Shortness of breath lasting for more than 5-10 minutes
• Suddenly feeling lightheaded, dizzy or weak
• Your heart starts beating really fast all of a sudden
• Anxiety
• Heartburn and/or abdominal pain
• Palpitations
• Swelling in the feet, ankles, and lower legs
• Feeling discomfort in the back, especially along the bra line
• Sudden feeling of doom
• Sudden unexplained fatigue
If you or anyone you know is experiencing any one of these symptoms, you should call 9-1-1 right away. Medical attention on time can stop a heart attack in its tracks and prevent further damage to the heart.
The fact is that women generally tend to minimize their symptoms. Moreover, when you combine it with the fact that women heart attack symptoms are so badly misunderstood, we can understand why so many women die due to heart disease and heart attacks.