13 Things Women Need To Know About Heart Attacks

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The Daily Beast

There is a prevailing misconception that heart disease is more of a man thing than a woman thing — however this is just not true. Heart disease is the most common cause of death for men and women in the United States. But, because some heart disease symptoms in women can differ from those in men, women don’t always know what to look for. Women aren’t as likely to survive their first heart attack compared to men, perhaps because the symptoms differ between the sexes. Women are far more likely to have what is known as a “silent” heart attack or display unusual symptoms.

A silent heart attack is just like your regular garden variety heart attack — and can be just as damaging, if not more so. It works like this: your heart needs oxygen-rich blood to function. If plaque, consisting of fat, cholesterol, and other substances, builds up in the arteries that carry blood to the heart, this blood flow can be totally cut off. The longer your heart doesn’t have blood flow, the more damage occurs. Because silent heart attacks can go unnoticed, they tend to cause a significant amount of damage. Without treatment, they can be fatal.

Read on to find out what symptoms women experience when they are having a heart attack, and possibly prepare for one in the future.

1. Discomfort in the neck, jaws, back, or arms

When there is a problem in the heart, you usually feel it in the area of your heart. However, sometimes it happens that you feel pain elsewhere. Pain in the neck, back, or arms may signal a heart condition, especially if there is no specific muscle or joint that aches. If a general pain is emanating from these places, and the discomfort begins or worsens when you are exerting yourself and then stops when you are at rest, you need to get yourself checked out. Walk, don’t run, to your doctor’s office and tell him or her of the generalized pain.