When a coronary heart assault strikes, it doesn’t all the time really feel the identical in ladies because it does in males.

Ladies do not all the time get the identical basic coronary heart assault signs as males, resembling crushing chest ache that radiates down one arm. These coronary heart assault signs can definitely occur to ladies, however many expertise obscure and even “silent” signs that they might miss.

These six coronary heart assault signs are widespread in ladies:

  1. Chest ache or discomfort. Chest ache is the commonest coronary heart assault symptom, however some ladies could expertise it otherwise than males. It might really feel like a squeezing or fullness, and the ache will be anyplace within the chest, not simply on the left aspect. It is often “actually uncomfortable” throughout a coronary heart assault, says heart specialist Rita Redberg, MD, director of Ladies’s Cardiovascular Providers on the College of California, San Francisco. “It appears like a vise being tightened.”
  2. Ache in your arm(s), again, neck, or jaw. Such a ache is extra widespread in ladies than in males. It might confuse ladies who anticipate their ache to be centered on their chest and left arm, not their again or jaw. The ache will be gradual or sudden, and it might wax and wane earlier than changing into intense. For those who’re asleep, it might wake you up. It’s best to report any “not typical or unexplained” signs in any a part of your physique above your waist to your physician or different well being care supplier, says heart specialist C. Noel Bairey Merz, MD, director of the Barbra Streisand Ladies’s Coronary heart Heart at Cedars-Sinai Medical Heart in Los Angeles.
  3. Abdomen ache. Typically individuals mistake abdomen ache that indicators a coronary heart assault with heartburn, the flu, or a abdomen ulcer. Different instances, ladies expertise extreme belly strain that appears like an elephant sitting in your abdomen, says heart specialist Nieca Goldberg, MD, medical director of the Joan H. Tisch Heart for Ladies’s Well being at NYU Langone Medical Heart in New York.
  4. Shortness of breath, nausea, or lightheadedness. For those who’re having bother respiration for no obvious motive, you can be having a coronary heart assault, particularly should you’re additionally having a number of different signs. “It will possibly really feel like you might have run a marathon, however you did not make a transfer,” Goldberg says.
  5. Sweating. Breaking out in a nervous, chilly sweat is widespread amongst ladies who’re having a coronary heart assault. It’s going to really feel extra like stress-related sweating than perspiration from exercising or spending time outdoors within the warmth. “Get it checked out” should you do not usually sweat like that and there’s no different motive for it, resembling warmth or scorching flashes, Bairey Merz says.
  6. Fatigue. Some ladies who’ve coronary heart assaults really feel extraordinarily drained, even when they have been sitting nonetheless for some time or have not moved a lot. “Sufferers typically complain of a tiredness within the chest,” Goldberg says. “They are saying that they cannot do easy actions, like stroll to the lavatory.”

Not everybody will get all of these signs. If in case you have chest discomfort, particularly should you even have a number of of the opposite indicators, name 911 instantly.

For those who really feel coronary heart assault signs:

  • Don’t delay getting assist. “Ladies typically wait longer than males earlier than going to the emergency room,” says Rita F. Redberg, MD, MSc, FACC, director of Ladies’s Cardiovascular Providers for the UCSF Division of Cardiology in San Francisco. Even should you assume your signs aren’t that unhealthy or will cross, the stakes are too excessive.
  • Do not drive your self to the hospital. You want an ambulance. For those who drive, you can have a wreck on the best way and presumably harm your self or another person.
  • Don’t have a good friend or relative drive you, both. Chances are you’ll not get there quick sufficient.
  • Don’t dismiss what you’re feeling. “Don’t be concerned about feeling foolish should you’re flawed,” Goldberg says. You need to get it checked out instantly.

“Folks do not need to spend hours in an emergency room if it is not a coronary heart assault,” Bairey Merz says. “However ladies are literally good at deciding what’s typical for themselves and when to hunt well being care.”



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