Symptoms of Heart Attack in Women

Sometimes, women who are having a heart attack will experience the same symptoms as men, including chest pain and labored breathing. However, the severity and range of heart attack symptoms women experience vary greatly from those most men feel. In fact, during a mild heart attack, many women may not know that they are experiencing a heart attack, known in the medical community as an acute myocardial infarction (AMI).
 

Heart Disease Statistics and Women
Here are some interesting statistics on heart disease in women:
  • Approximately 240,000 American women have heart attacks annually, equaling AMI rates in men.
  • One out of every two women dies of heart disease or stroke.
  • Sixty-three percent of women who suffer fatal heart attacks had no indication of heart problems.

Heart Attack Symptoms in Women

Heart attack symptoms tend to be more subtle in women than in men. Although considered a classic heart attack symptom, many women never experience chest pain during a heart attack. While results from a survey published in the journal Circulation indicate that more than 70 percent of women experience chest pain prior to a heart attack, approximately 45 percent of women feel no chest pain during a heart attack.

Rather, women are more likely to experience the following symptoms during heart attacks:

  • anxiety
  • fatigue
  • sleep disturbances
  • stomach complaints.

Unfortunately, many women fail to associate these symptoms with AMI. Sometimes, even some members of the medical community fail to link these symptoms with heart problems. Thus, it is not unusual for a doctor to dismiss a woman's heart attack as anxiety.

Women and Heart Disease: Misconceptions
Many people believe that women are less likely than men to develop heart disease. This, however, is not the case. In fact, heart disease is the number one killer of women, ranking even higher than breast cancer.
 
Unfortunately, physicians often misdiagnose heart disease in women, due to the fact that symptoms are markedly different in men and women. Some doctors and many women often mistake heart attack symptoms for the following:
  • anxiety disorders
  • asthma
  • fatigue
  • indigestion.

One barrier in the treatment of heart disease in women is the fact that research has focused on men. The results of clinical research in men have been applied to women, assuming that the disease is identical in both sexes. This, however, is not the case. Women's physical reactions to heart problems are gender-specific and, therefore, need to be studied in clinical trials aimed specifically at women.

Symptoms Before and During a Heart Attack

The Circulation study also provided statistics on unusual symptoms experienced by women in the days prior to their attacks. Of those surveyed, 95 percent of women reported unusual symptoms, the most common being fatigue, anxiety and sleep disturbances.

The table below provides some of the common symptoms experienced by women both prior to and during a heart attack. The symptoms are listed from most common to least common:

Symptoms Before Heart Attack

Symptoms During Heart Attack

Fatigue: 71 percent

Shortness of Breath: 58 percent

Sleep Disturbances: 48 percent

Weakness: 55 percent

Shortness of Breath: 42 percent

Fatigue: 43 percent

Indigestion: 39 percent

Cold Sweat: 39 percent

Anxiety: 35 percent

Dizziness: 39 percent

Any woman experiencing any of the above-mentioned symptoms, whether or not in conjunction with chest pain, should seek medical assistance immediately.

Resources

Lawrence, J. (updated 2001). Women beware: That sweaty feeling and stomach ache could be a heart attack. Retrieved October 22, 2007, from the Heart Help Web site: www.heart-help.net/attack2.html.

Longley, R. (n.d.). Women's heart attack symptoms different from men's. Retrieved October 22, 2007, from the About.com Web site:
usgovinfo.about.com/cs/healthmedical/a/womensami.htm.

McSweeney, J.; Cody, M; O'Sullivan, P.; Elberson, K.; Moser, D.; Garvin, B. (2003). Women's early warning symptoms of acute myocardial infarction. Circulation 108, 2619-2623.