Take care of your heart, ladies, and not just this Valentine's Day. Heart disease is currently the No. 1 cause of death among women in the U.S. to date. Women are more likely to die from heart disease than men.
For a long time, doctors have known the differences between heart disease in men and women. According to the American Heart Association, it seems that the public's awareness about the gender difference in terms of heart disease is not sufficient enough.
Women's hearts are not the same as those of men, which makes the risks and symptoms for heart disease in women different. Doctors recommend increasing a woman's awareness of her own body as heart disease symptoms in women are more subtle. Moreover, women have higher mortality risk post-heart attack than men.
Simple lifestyle tweaks such as quitting the cigarette habit and maintaining a healthy body weight can lower the risks of heart disease in both men and women. However, women have more risk factors including pregnancy complications.
When it comes to treatment, women are less likely to get aggressive and timely treatments, which may be due to late diagnosis. Women could also be wrongly diagnosed as depressed or anxious and they may not be aware of their own individual or atypical symptoms. Most importantly, heart attack symptoms in women are different than those in men.
"A lot of time they experience back pain, jaw pain and shortness of breath," said Yale-New Haven Hospital's cardiologist Lavanya Bellumkonda.
Experts said 80 percent of heart disease is avoidable. The lack of awareness about individual symptoms can result in a heart disease gone unnoticed. Doctors are encouraging both men and women to talk to their physicians to become more aware about their individual risks.
Ladies, here are other heart disease symptoms to watch out for.
- Uncomfortable chest pressure or pain that comes and goes every few minutes.
- Cold sweat
- Nausea
- Lightheadedness
- Pain in the neck, arms, back, jaw and stomach
- Shortness of breath
- Feeling of dread, anxiety
- Flu-like symptoms
- Fatigue
Photo : Steven Pisano | Flickr
