Yes. A heart attack can be different in women than men. When we think of someone having a heart attack, we typically picture an older man clutching his breastbone and complaining of chest pain or pressure. But symptoms of a heart attack may be different in men than in women.
Furthermore, heart disease is the number one killer of women. Not breast cancer. Not lung cancer. Not accidents or domestic violence. Even worse, more women than men die of heart disease each year in the United States.
So, how is a heart attack different in women than in men? It turns out that women often do not feel chest pain when they are having a heart attack. Frequently, women feel only fatigue, shortness of breath, nausea or neck or back pain during a heart attack.
Women may have chest pain, too, during a heart attack. But almost half of women who have had a heart attack said they never experience this symptom. Unfortunately, women also frequently do worse after a heart attack and suffer more complications than men.
Not as much is known on how heart disease starts or progresses in women compared to men, but the National Institutes of Health has been researching these problems through a long-term study called WISE. An important finding from WISE is that women tend to have different types of blockages in the heart vessels that cause heart attacks. This may lead to different types of symptoms seen in women. A different type of blockage in women can also make it more difficult for doctors to find heart disease in women and prevent future heart attacks.
So what can you do to prevent a heart attack?
First, know if you are at risk for heart disease. You are at risk of heart disease, if you:
• Have diabetes, or
• Have high cholesterol, or LDL lipid level, or
• Have a family history of heart disease (mother or sister with heart attack before age 65 or father or brother with heart attack before age 55), or
• Are over 65 years old, or
• Smoke or have a history of heavy smoking.
Second, if you fit any of these patterns, make sure to consult a doctor and get an assessment for heart disease.
Third, if you have any of these patterns, and you begin to experience new or severe symptoms of chest pain, shortness of breath, or neck, arm or back pain, arrange to have an immediate evaluation for heart disease.