In general we as women need to take better care of ourselves! We have the tendency to multi-task ourselves into mental and physical exhaustion. We take care of our children, our husbands or boyfriends, our extended family and our communities by helping them be successful in their projects.
By the time we have given energy to all these different people we seldom have time to focus on our most important asset, our health. As a result we have aches, pains, fatigue and persistent health problems that we ignore or put off for another time. This can be dangerous and damaging to our health.
Symptoms show up in our life to tell us that we are moving out of balance with our health. Symptoms serve as an alarm to let us know we need to make changes to the way we are living our lives.
Often any one symptom can be associated with more than one chronic disease, heart disease, diabetes, cancer or autoimmune disorder. Addressing the symptoms when they first come to the surface allow you to do two things.
First they allow you and your doctor to set a new baseline for your health so that in the future you can be more sensitive to new symptoms when they arise. Second, they allow you to catch a potentially dangerous health condition when it is happening or very soon after it has happened so you can get medical attention more quickly.
Heart attacks are an example of a disease that may show up with atypical symptoms, that we as women need to be aware of.
In the last several years the American Heart Association has started a campaign during February to raise awareness about heart disease symptoms in women. We now know women can experience different symptoms than the tradition “chest pain”.
In women our symptoms can seem much more subtle instead of chest pain, women may have unexplained shortness of breath, or pain or pressure in other areas than the chest, including the jaw, neck, arms, back or stomach. There are other ambiguous symptoms like weakness, extreme fatigue, a feeling of indigestion, nausea, dizziness, or lower chest discomfort.
In the Journal of the American Medical Association, online February 21, 2012 edition, it published a research study sharing how these non-traditional symptoms impact women's health. The study found that women, especially women younger than 55, are more likely to experience non-traditional heart attack symptoms.
Younger women who came into hospital without chest pain were twenty percent more likely to die as a result of their heart attack than men of the same age.
I don’t share this information to scare you. On the contrary, I share this with you to encourage you to take your symptoms more seriously. Upon looking at the list of symptoms you can easily see that many of the symptoms seem benign. Most times they may be.
However if you notice that you are getting indigestion then go to the doctor and get it checked. If you are more tired than usual talk to your doctor to make sure it is not a heart condition, diabetes, or anemia. Make your health a priority.
I also wanted to share this with you because sometimes primary care physicians and emergency room doctors don’t recognize the atypical symptoms of a heart attack as a heart attack. If you know about these symptoms you can ask your doctors to run extra test to confirm that you have not had a heart attack.
This will allow you to be part of your health care team with your doctor and you can be informed about your health each step of the way. The better you take care yourself and your health the more energy you will have to help to take care of the ones you love.
Dr. Dae
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Dr. Dae is a Naturopathic Physician who practices in the Washington DC metro area treats the whole person using safe and effective combinations of traditional and natural methods to produce optimal health and well-being in the lives of her patients.
Sources:
Pittman, Genevra. " Heart attack with no chest pain more likely in women| Reuters." Business & Financial News, Breaking US & International News | Reuters.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2012. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/21/us-heart-attack-no-chest-pain-women-idUSTRE81K1VW20120221
"Women's Heart Attack Symptoms and Treatments." WebMD - Better information. Better health.. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2012.
http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/features/her-guide-to-a-heart-attack
Reviewed February 23, 2012
by Michele Blacksberg RN
Edited by Jody Smith