Warning Signs of a Heart Attack in Women

Most of us believe that it's men who are more susceptible to heart diseases, such as, heart attacks and strokes. But you would be shocked to know that there is an alarming increase in women suffering from heart diseases. According to health experts, women too are equal risk for heart diseases as men due to lifestyle changes.
Generally, women who are going through their menopause or post menopause are more susceptible to heart attack. The massive hormonal changes in this period opens the door for heart diseases in women. There are very few cases where women experience heart attack before menopause unless they are alcoholic, diabetic, smoker, or have taken birth control pills for a long time. Apart from this, women with high blood pressure problems, high cholesterol, obesity, and family history of heart attacks, etc. are too vulnerable to heart diseases including heart attacks. Women may experience indirect signals before getting a heart attack but many women neglect them as most of them associate those symptoms with menopause or aging. But if women observe and identify these signs and symptoms in the initial phase, it is possible to prevent heart attack. To know more about warning signs of a heart attack in women, read further.

Heart Attack Symptoms in Women

First of all it is essential to understand that symptoms of heart attack in men and women are usually the same. Few years back it was believed that women experience some different symptoms for heart attack but today research studies have proved that both men and women experience atypical symptoms for heart attacks due to their individual health status which is not generalizable. Given below are some of the heart attack symptoms in women that are also experienced by men.

Most of the people experience chest discomfort before suffering from an heart attack. The discomfort could be like a pressure, fullness, or squeezing feeling in the center of the chest which may last for a few minutes.
In some cases, women may experience discomfort in the upper body parts, such as, arms, armpits, neck, nape, back, jaw, or even the stomach. The discomfort could be accompanied by severe pain in one or some parts of the upper body.
One of the most obvious symptom of heart attack in women and men is shortness of breath. A person may feel choked or suffocated due to lack of oxygen supply to the heart. Such shortness of breath may or may not be accompanied by a chest or upper body discomfort.
Some women also experience flu like symptoms before having a heart attack. These flu like symptoms include chills or cold sweats. Some women do not experience the cold but they suffer from severe and sudden sweating.
Fatigue is also one of the most common symptoms of heart attack in women. It is one of the most underlying symptoms that women experience many days prior to the heart attack. The fatigue could be severe and chronic.
Many women also have complained about indigestion without any apparent reason. There is no solid medical research to back this fact but it is observed that many women experience digestion problems before the heart attack strikes.
Many women have complained of sleep disturbance problems few days prior to the heart attack. Again there is not enough medical evidence to relate sleep disturbances with heart attack but almost 70% who have suffered heart attack complained of sleep disturbances before heart attack.

Most of these symptoms are milder initially and may aggravate later leading to heart attack. Some heart attack symptoms such as, chest discomfort, upper body pain, and breathing problems, etc. are also experienced intensely during a heart attack. In some heart attack cases, it is observed that patients suffered a 'silent' heart attack, where they did not feel any pain during the heart attack but their heart was significantly damaged. Such heart attacks are diagnosed only after an EKG and other cardiac tests. So it is advisable that women over 50 should go for periodical heart check up to prevent it from any damage or heart attack. Regular exercise, balanced diet, and healthy lifestyle is always recommended by the health experts to keep heart ailments at bay.

By Geeta Dhavale