“It is important for women to know their own risk, be able to recognize the signs of a heart attack and know how some symptoms of heart disease are different for women” said Tammy Roberts from University of Missouri Extension. For example, a strong predictor for coronary heart disease in women is having a low HDL (good cholesterol) level. In men, the stronger predictor is high LDL (bad cholesterol).
It is possible for women to have any of the symptoms of a heart attack that men have. These include pain or pressure in the middle of the chest, shortness of breath, radiating pain to the shoulders, neck, back, arms or jaw, pounding heartbeats or feeling of extra heartbeats, upper abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting or extreme indigestion, unexplained sweating, dizziness with weakness, sudden extreme fatigue, or panic with the feeling of impending doom.
When men have a heart attack, a common symptom is pain that radiates down the arm. Approximately 1/3 of women having heart attacks experience no chest pain at all. More than 2/3 of women having heart attacks report flu-like symptoms for 2-4 weeks before developing a chest discomfort or severe shortness of breath.
About 2/3 of women with coronary heart disease symptoms will appear to have normal arteries on an angiogram. Of those women, half will have a condition called coronary microvascular syndrome. These women actually have blockages but they are undetectable on the angiogram because the plaque evenly coats very small arteries unlike the large obstructions found in men. These narrowed small arteries mean less oxygen flow to the heart and are the cause of chest pain.
Because the symptoms for heart attack can be vastly different for women than for men, it is extremely important for women to know the symptoms that are more common for the ladies. What is not different is that both men and women should seek medical help immediately at the first sign of a heart attack.
