Her Guide to a Heart Attack: Recognizing Female Heart Attack Symptoms
From WebMD, excerpts:
"Women commonly have symptoms of shortness of breath, unexplained fatigue, or pressure in the lower chest, so they easily mistake it as a stomach ailment."
In the Circulation study, common female heart attack symptoms include:
Women also had these symptoms:
Goldberg, who is familiar with the study, says, "About six weeks before the actual heart attack, women were more likely to experience shortness of breath, unexplained fatigue or stomach pain as an early warning sign that they might have a blocked artery."
.....
If it doesn't occur to the emergency room doctor to check for heart attack, be bold. Goldberg tells women to say outright: "I think I'm having a heart attack." Because many doctors still don't recognize that women's symptoms differ, they may mistake them for arthritis , pulled muscles, indigestion, gastrointestinal problems, or even anxiety and hypochondria.
...
"Women commonly have symptoms of shortness of breath, unexplained fatigue, or pressure in the lower chest, so they easily mistake it as a stomach ailment."
In the Circulation study, common female heart attack symptoms include:
- shortness of breath (57.9%)
- weakness (54.8%)
- unusual fatigue (42.9%)
Women also had these symptoms:
- Nausea
- Dizziness
- Lower chest discomfort
- Upper abdominal pressure or discomfort that may feel like indigestion
- Back pain
Goldberg, who is familiar with the study, says, "About six weeks before the actual heart attack, women were more likely to experience shortness of breath, unexplained fatigue or stomach pain as an early warning sign that they might have a blocked artery."
.....
If it doesn't occur to the emergency room doctor to check for heart attack, be bold. Goldberg tells women to say outright: "I think I'm having a heart attack." Because many doctors still don't recognize that women's symptoms differ, they may mistake them for arthritis , pulled muscles, indigestion, gastrointestinal problems, or even anxiety and hypochondria.
...