Heart Attack Treatment and Diagnosis for Women
Heart disease isn't just for men. It's by far the leading cause of death for American women.
Most women believe that breast cancer is the greatest threat to their health. It isn't, not by a long shot. Heart disease, heart attacks and strokes kill more than twice as many American women as all forms of cancer combined.
It’s important for women who suspect they may be having a heart attack to quickly get to an experienced, dedicated heart and chest pain center like the one at Phoebe.
Heart Attack Symptoms for Women
Women very often have different heart attack symptoms than men.
When a heart attack begins, it's important to note that women often experience a different kind of chest pain. Women are more likely to feel:
- fatigue
- dizziness
- nauseous
- shortness of breath
In other words, symptoms of heart attacks for women are often not what most people consider typical for a heart attack. As a result, far too many women lie down on the couch to let the symptoms pass and end up dying before they ever get to the emergency room, where they very likely could have been saved.
Women are more likely to encounter delays in heart attack diagnosis and treatment.
This happens for several reasons:
- Women tend to seek help later than men
- Women's symptoms are not what most people recognize as heart attack
- Women have more "silent" heart attacks, with almost no noticeable symptoms
- For a number of reasons, women are less likely to be quickly diagnosed with heart disease or heart attack
Because they are less likely to be quickly diagnosed, women are also less likely to receive aggressive thrombolitic (clot-busting) or angioplasty therapy.
For more information about heart attack care, call: 229-312-4438.