Many people think heart disease mainly affects men, but the fact is that it’s the number one killer of women.
Yet many women don’t know that and don’t recognize the symptoms. As a result, many delay diagnosis and treatment.
“The mortality of women from heart disease is actually higher than that of men,” said Ravi Dave, president of the American Heart Association.
Part of the reason for that may be that women ignore or deny their symptoms and don’t know that he symptoms of heart problems may be very different for men and women.
The classic symptom, crushing chest pain “like an elephant is sitting on a chest” isn’t always present and is less likely to occur in women than in men.
Women are more likely to have subtle symptoms including:
- Tiredness
- Weakness
- Unexplained sweating
- Shoulder pain
- Neck pain
- Arm pain
Erika Perez was only 37 when she was awakened one night by moderate chest pain. When she walked around she thought it was gas and tried some tea. When paramedics came she didn’t want to go with them to the hospital. Later, when she felt worse, her husband drove her to the ER and doctors found out she was having a massive heart attack.
“For me, having a heart attack, it was just… I was going to die and I called my family and I said goodbye to my husband,” Perez recalled.
Luckily doctors acted quickly. They did an angiogram, discovered a major blockage in a blood vessel and opened it with a stent.
That saved Perez’s life and she said it gave her a new outlook on the danger.
“I want to be here for my kids, I want to be here for my family and the best thing I could do is take care of myself and do everything the way it’s supposed to be,” she said.
What you can do:
- Get regular checkups
- Control your risk factors with diet, exercise and medicine if necessary
- Check and control cholesterol levels
- Don’t ever ignore any unexplained symptom
If you do have a heart attack, the sooner you get to a doctor the more likely the attack can be reversed and damage can be minimized or prevented.
Knowing it’s not just a man’s disease can save your life.