How Womens Heart Attack Symptoms Are Different Than Mens | HealthInfi

HOW WOMENS HEART ATTACK SYMPTOMS ARE DIFFERENT THAN MENS

Women experience heart attacks differently to men meaning potentially deadly symptoms go undetected for longer, a charity has highlighted. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the world, killing 17.5 million people according to the latest figures from 2012.

The American Heart Association has emphasised that while both men and women experience chest pains before or during a heart attack, women could also show more vague signs such as shortness of breath, nausea or vomiting, and neck or back pain.

A heart attack affects men and women in the same way, but the different sexes experience the symptoms differently. Many women even dismiss the symptoms. Dr. John Ryan talks about why women’s symptoms are different, what symptoms women should look out for and why women shouldn’t dismiss heart disease as just a man’s health concern.

Here’s some good news for all of you who received dark chocolate for Valentine’s Day: You’re eating something that is heart-healthy. The flavonoids found in dark chocolate are friendly to your vascular health and can lower blood pressure, improve blood flow to your brain and heart and make blood platelets less sticky and able to clot. But while you’re munching on your chocolate (and not too much of it!) be aware of this: Sometimes the reality of hearing that coronary heart disease not cancer is the number one cause of death for American women is startling.

Yet, the fact is that almost twice as many women die from a heart attack, stroke or other related forms of coronary heart disease than of all types of cancers combined and that includes breast cancer. Another startling fact: Since 1984, more women have died of cardiovascular disease than men. More than one in three women have some form of cardiovascular disease, according to the American Heart Association, with an overall increase in heart attacks occurring around 10 years after menopause.

We’ve all seen the movie scenes where a man gasps, clutches his chest and falls to the ground. In reality, a heart attack victim could easily be a woman, and the scene may not be that dramatic.

“Although men and women can experience chest pressure that feels like an elephant sitting across the chest, women can experience a heart attack without chest pressure, ” said Nieca Goldberg, M.D., medical director for the Joan H. Tisch Center for Women’s Health at NYU’s Langone Medical Center and an American Heart Association volunteer. “Instead they may experience shortness of breath, pressure or pain in the lower chest or upper abdomen, dizziness, lightheadedness or fainting, upper back pressure or extreme fatigue.”Read More