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Women: Educate Yourself about Heart Disease!
Heart disease symptoms women experience can be misleading, especially when contrasted to the classic symptoms most men experience.
Classic heart disease symptoms that have often been defined for both men and women include shortness of breath, sweating, and chest pain or pressure. Also, pain that radiates from the shoulders, to the neck, and to the arms, tightness in your chest, and heartburn or indigestion are also classic signs. Dizziness and short losses of consciousness can happen as well.
However, heart disease symptoms women experience can be very different, and much more sly. Not only do many women never realize they are experiencing symptoms of a heart attack, but many end up having heart attacks without seemingly any warning at all.
Heart disease symptoms women can experience include fatigue and weakness, usually unexplained and unexpected. Discomfort or pain between the shoulder blades that can easily be mistaken for sore or tight muscles is also a symptom reported among women, as is pain resembling gas or indigestion, dizziness, and possible nausea or vomiting. Recurring discomfort in the chest is also common, as well as a hard to shake sense of anxiety or doom.
The National Institute of Health performed a study on women and heart disease and found that women often have symptoms for weeks and even months before a heart attack ever takes place. Within the study, 95 percent of the women could tell that they were having unusual and unexpected symptoms such as fatigue, sleep problems, and shortness of breath, but they did not know that these could be symptoms of heart disease. The study also showed that less than a third of all women experience chest pain, which is what doctors attribute as a leading symptom for a heart attack in both men and women.
Women often will disregard heart disease symptoms as a common stress factor, ache, or pain, not realizing that they can be deadly. Medical attention may seem unnecessary, as the symptoms may seem mild and not too bad.
Talk to your doctor and asses your risk for heart disease. Make sure that you get regular exams that check your blood pressure and your cholesterol levels. If heart disease runs in your family, make an extra effort to get added tests that may be beneficial. And, if you do start to have unusual symptoms that seem bothersome, let your doctor know. Be proactive with your health, rather than reactive!
Your lifestyle is also important in reducing your risk for heart disease. In addition to talking to your doctor, you need to take an honest look at your lifestyle and make sure you are eating right, exercising regularly, maintaining a healthy weight, and cutting out the sabotaging effects of smoking, drinking, and saturated fats. Make some healthy changes now and continue to educate yourself about heart disease. Being able to identify symptoms of heart disease that women have may just be the thing that saves you or a loved one's life.
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