Many women generally have a much have a harder time than men when it comes to heart attacks. Women are more likely than men to die, being permanently disabled, or have a second attack within a month or year, yet a very insignificant amount of information is provided to women by their doctors and gynecologists to prevent heart attacks.
The symptoms of a heart attack can vary from person to person. Some people can have few symptoms and are surprised to learn they’ve had a heart attack. If you experience 5 or more of these symptoms daily, it’s time to see a health professional.
Heart attacks can start slowly and cause only mild pain or discomfort. Symptoms can be mild or more intense and sudden. Symptoms also may come and go over several hours.
People who have high blood sugar (diabetes) may have no symptoms or very mild ones.
The most common symptom, in both men and women, is chest pain or discomfort.
Women are somewhat more likely to have shortness of breath, nausea and vomiting, unusual tiredness (sometimes for days), and pain in the back, shoulders, and jaw.
Heart disease is one of the most killer in U.S. men and women, accounting for 45% of all United States deaths. That’s more than all forms of cancer combined. Here are the ten most common signs to look out for.
10 Common Symptoms of a Heart Attack
Here are the most common symptoms 30 or less before a heart attack:
1. Shortness of Breath
Loss of blood flow causes less blood flow in the lungs too which leads to shortening of your breath. “Sometimes people having a heart attack don’t have chest pressure or pain but feel very short of breath,” says Nieca Goldberg, MD, clinical associate professor of medicine at the NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City.
2. Digestion
It’s common for people to feel sick to their stomach and have abdominal swelling related with heart failure which can interfere with appetite and digestion. Frequent indigestion is a big red flag along with intense heartburn.
3. Dizziness and Sweating
When brain have a shortage o blood, it affects the body for functioning. For proper functioning of the brain many of blood flow is required. Heart attacks can cause dizziness and loss of consciousness. So can potentially dangerous heart rhythm abnormalities known as arrhythmias.
Breaking out in a cold sweat is a common symptom of heart attack. “You might just be sitting in a chair when all of a sudden you are really sweating like you had just worked out,” says David Frid, MD, a cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic.
4. Fatigue
Feeling exhausted and fatigued every day of every week may be because of lack of blood being transferred to the heart, brain and also the lungs. It becomes hard to carry out usual activities; gets worse over time and often leads to overwhelming exhaustion–too tired to do anything.
Particularly among women, unusual fatigue can occur during a heart attack as well as in the days and weeks leading up to one. And feeling tired all the time may be a symptom of heart failure.
5. Chest, Back, Shoulder, Arm, and Neck Pain
The most common and very popular reason for heart attack is the pain that occurs in the chest. This pain is the green signal for the heart attack to happen.
At first when the pain occurs, people panic but as soon as it disappears on its own they don’t tend to have it examined and ignore it. People often ignore chest pain but then notice there is a problem when it spreads to the shoulders, arms, and back.
6. Rapid or Irregular Pulse
Doctors say that there’s usually nothing troublesome about an occasional skipped heartbeat. But a rapid or irregular pulse — especially when accompanied by weakness, dizziness, or shortness of breath — can be proof of a heart attack, heart failure, or an arrhythmia. Left untreated, some arrhythmias can lead to stroke, heart failure, or sudden death.
7. Swelling
Heart failure can cause fluid to accumulate in the body. This can cause swelling (often in the feet, ankles, legs, or abdomen) as well as sudden weight gain and sometimes a loss of appetite.
8. Mood Changes
A heart attack can cause intense nervousness and or even a fear of death. Heart attack survivors often talk about having experienced a sense of “impending doom.” Letting feelings of anxiety for no reason are common.
9. Cough
Persistent coughing or wheezing can be a symptom of heart failure — a result of fluid growth in the lungs. In other cases, people with heart failure cough up bloody phlegm.
10. Unexplained Weakness
In the weeks and days leading up to a heart attack, as well as during one, some people experience severe, unexplained weakness. “One woman told me it felt like she couldn’t hold a piece of paper between her fingers,” says Jean C. McSweeney, Ph.D., RN, associate dean for research at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Nursing in Little Rock.
It’s like having the flu with little to no strength. People take this sign as a fly by night symptom but in reality it is a really big indicator your body gives you that you are at an increased risk of having a heart attack in the near future.
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