What you need to know
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Imagine: You're puttering around the house, not doing anything particularly strenuous. Still, you feel a little winded. "I'm just tired," you think -- probably due to that nagging upper backache that's kept you from deep sleep. Your doctor said just last week that there are no signs of injury, and that some rest might help. But when you sit down to take a break, you notice you're a little nauseated. Dizzy and sweaty after vomiting, you realize you just have a simple stomach bug.
Today's heart health experts want you to know that the truth might not be so simple. You may be having a heart attack.
According to Norma Keller, M.D., FACC, chief of clinical cardiology and director at CCU and Telemetry, Bellevue Hospital, and assistant professor of medicine at New York University School of Medicine, heart disease claim the lives of more women per year than all forms of cancer combined. That's 1,400 women every day and 500,000 annually.
Why heart attacks kill so many women
Long thought of as "a man's disease," heart health studies didn't include women until about 15 years ago, according to Teresa Caulin-Glaser, MD, author of The Woman's Heart: An Owner's Guide (Prometheus Books). Researchers have since learned that heart disease carries different symptoms in women than in men.Women tend to downplay symptoms, too. "While men typically feel a crushing pain and pressure in the chest, women tend to experience heartburn-like discomfort, extreme fatigue and shortness of breath," says Caulin-Glaser. "Yet women often dismiss these new and recurrent symptoms that should be raising red flags."
So what are the most common signs and symptoms of heart attacks in women? While symptoms may include that hallmark chest pain, the following are more likely in women. They may come and go, according to Caulin-Glaser, and may start out as quite mild:
• Shortness of breath
• Discomfort or pain in the neck, jaw, shoulder or upper back
• Nausea or vomiting
• Abdominal pain often described as “heartburn”
• Unexplained fatigue
• Dizziness
"Should I call 911?"
If symptoms last more than five minutes, she advises the following:1. Take an aspirin.
2. Call 911.
3. Do NOT drive yourself to the emergency room. Do NOT have someone else drive you, either. Paramedics will arrive fast and have all the necessary equipment to initiate treatment.
Moreover... if you have ANY doubt, call 911! "The most important thing is not to ignore or explain away new symptoms as overwork, anxiety or stress. Discuss new symptoms with your physician and state clearly [that] you are concerned you may have symptoms of heart disease, and you want to be fully evaluated," says Caulin-Glaser. "No woman should ever be embarrassed by going to the emergency department when she thinks she may be having a heart attack. The risk of not going is her life."
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