In recent years, doctors and health experts have become more concerned about how heart attack symptoms in women are often missed or misunderstood.
While most people know that chest pain is a common sign of a heart attack, many women experience different, milder symptoms. These can be easy to ignore or confuse with other health issues, which can delay treatment and sometimes even lead to death.
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Unlike the sudden, intense heart attack scenes shown in movies, women may feel symptoms like tiredness, nausea, trouble breathing, indigestion, dizziness, or pain in the neck, jaw, or back.
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These signs are often mistaken for problems like gas, stress, or the flu. Some women feel like they are just coming down with something, rather than realizing they could be having a heart attack. Others feel very tired or dizzy all of a sudden, with no clear reason why.
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Doctors say that differences between men’s and women’s bodies, especially hormone levels, can change how heart attack symptoms appear.
For example, the hormone estrogen may help protect women from heart disease before menopause. But after menopause, the risk increases. Also, women are more likely than men to have “silent” heart attacks, where the symptoms are so mild that they go unnoticed.
The American Heart Association urges women to pay attention to their bodies and not ignore strange or ongoing discomfort. If symptoms are new, strong, or getting worse, it’s important to get medical help right away. Acting fast can save lives and reduce long-term damage to the heart.
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Raising awareness is very important. Many still believe that heart attacks mostly happen to men, but that idea is wrong and dangerous. Heart disease is the number one cause of death in women around the world.
By learning more about how heart attacks affect women differently, more lives can be saved. Public health campaigns continue to stress that knowing the signs and acting quickly can make a big difference.