Signs Of Heart Attacks In Women

When you ask most women what they think the biggest health risk they face is, what answers would you get? Breast cancer? Ovarian cancer? Cervical cancer? Nope. It's actually one a lot of women wouldn't even think of-heart disease. Studies have shown that cardiovascular disease kills more women than all three of the cancers mentioned before combined. What's even worse is that the signs of a heart attack in women are often completely different from those in men and may not be seen for what they are until it is too late. What exactly are those signs, and how can we know when to seek treatment? This is a very basic list, but it's a good place to start.

One major problem with heart attacks in women is that the symptoms can start up to a month before the actual attack occurs. Because of this, they are usually mistaken for other things. One of the best things we as women can do to get the proper diagnosis is to be keenly aware of our 'norms'-usual sleep patterns, energy level, breathing patterns, etc. If we know what is 'normal' for us, we can more easily detect changes that could signal a problem. I would also note that many things we'd ignore if they occurred by themselves can signal a problem if they occur together.

Believe it or not, most women don't experience the chest pain that we think of as being a heart attack. If they do, it's not the 'knock you to your knees' pain we see on TV. This is why many medical professionals will miss that a woman has had a heart attack as opposed to something less severe. Some common heart attack symptoms in women are:

• unusual, unexplained fatigue
• shortness of breath
• weakness
• dizziness
• what feels like indigestion, but unexplained
• cold sweats
• nausea
• pressure or aching in the upper back, neck, arms or jaw

As you can see, it's not hard for someone to mistake these symptoms for being something else, or to ignore then entirely. That's where being aware of your normal patterns comes in-so you can recognize when something's amiss and get help before it's too late.

Speaking of which, if you experience these symptoms, call 911. Do not try to drive yourself, do not pass go, do not collect $200-just call 911. The last thing you want is to be driving when the worst of it hits. I know a lot of us don't want to 'put people out' or make a big deal out of it when it might not be, but forget that! Trust me, anyone worth being around won't mind being 'put out'! Also, the ambulance can give you medical treatment on the way to the hospital that may save your life. If nothing else, the doctors will know where to start looking.  If it turns out to be something else (I once thought I was having a heart attack when it was actually a reaction to some medication), you know what to mention next time you go to your family doctor!

Ladies, I know I'm not a doctor, but I really hope you'll listen to me on this. I would really hate for any of you to have a heart attack and not get help because you didn't know what to look for or didn't know what to do about it! You deserve to be healthy and happy, and I hope I've helped you do that in some way.