Women’s Heart Attack Symptoms: 5 Surprising Signs
Heart disease kills more women in the United States than any other health condition.
Unfortunately, women may fail to recognize that some subtle signs could indicate a heart attack.
“Because women’s heart attack symptoms are often different from the well-publicized male counterpart symptoms, the early signs of heart attack may go unrecognized,” says Dr. Bao Pham, a family medicine physician at Straub Medical Center.
A woman’s heart attack often lacks the most common warning sign: sudden, intense left-sided chest pain or pressure radiating to the jaw or left arm associated with shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting or intense sweating.
“When a heart attack occurs, a woman might experience mild chest discomfort, pressure, squeezing, tightness or fullness, shortness of breath or unusual fatigue,” Pham says.
New research shows that women also might experience weakness, cold sweats and dizziness before a heart attack.
Call 911 immediately if you experience any of the above symptoms. Receiving treatment for a heart attack within 90 minutes may mean the difference between life and death.
A recent study found that many women begin experiencing symptoms long before a heart attack actually strikes – sometimes even a month beforehand. Here are the most common signs reported:
- Unusual fatigue – more than 70% of women who have had a heart attack say they experienced this symptom.
- Sleep disturbances.
- Shortness of breath.
- Indigestion.
- Anxiety.
Even if you’ve already had a heart attack, it pays to brush up on your knowledge of warning signs. A second attack might cause completely different symptoms from those of the first.
Published on: February 4, 2019
