Heart Disease Symptoms: Which Are Most Common In Women? - Dr. Smolens
Dr. Smolens introduces herself and shares the most common heart disease symptoms in women. Dr. Smolens is an experience cardiologist at Banner Heart Hospital in Mesa, Arizona.
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Dr. Smolens:
Women commonly experience symptoms that are very different from men and actually different from the classic teachings of heart disease symptoms.
Typically, we are all familiar with the symptoms of left-sided chest pain radiating into the jaw or the left arm. Women actually present with very different symptoms. They may in fact have left-sided chest pain, but more often women who present with heart attacks present with nausea and vomiting. They can present with back or shoulder pain. They can present with chest pain or shortness of breath is a common complaint, and many women presenting with heart attacks actually have a complaint of a prodrome of about four or five days of flu-like symptoms.
Women tend to have different symptoms than men for a variety of reasons. Nobody really has pinned down the actual root cause of why that is true, but I think women tend to sit at home sicker for a longer period of time than men and so I think they allow the symptoms to occur for a while before they even present.
About Dr. Smolens, M.D.:
Board Certified Cardiothoracic Surgeon Iva Smolens, M.D., serves as medical director of the Women's Heart Center at Banner Heart Hospital in Mesa, Arizona. She currently serves on the American Heart Association’s Board of Directors for the Phoenix metropolitan area.
Keywords:
Condition: Heart Attack, Heart Palpitation, Heart Disease
Related Terms: Chest Pain, Stress Test, High Blood Pressure, HDL, LDL, Body Mass Index, Cardiovascular Exercise, Angiography, Stent, Heart Bypass Surgery, Open Heart Surgery, Vascular Disease, EKG
Expert: Dr. Iva Smolens, Iva Smolens, M.D., Doctor Iva Smolens, Cardiologist Iva Smolens
Expertise: Cardiology, Heart Specialist, Heart Disease, Cardiovascular Disease, Coronary Artery Disease, Heart Attack, Heart Palpitation
