A Woman's Heart Is Different
Many women may not experience chest pain. Their warning signs are non-specific and often easily overlooked. In fact only 40% of women having a heart attack actually realized they are. Women are more likely than men to experience the other common symptoms like shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting, and back or jaw pain.
Woman's Warning Signs:
- Pain or pressure in the chest, upper back, jaw or neck
- Shortness of breath
- Flu-like symptoms: nausea or vomiting, cold sweats
- Unexplained weakness or fatigue
- Feelings of anxiety, loss of appetite, malaise
- Sense of impending doom
Knowing the facts can better prepare you to take a more proactive role in helping combat heart disease in yourself and those you love.
Please, take a few minutes to review some of these surprising statistics:
- Women tend to develop heart disease about 10 years later than men. However, heart disease continues to be the #1 killer of women in the United States.
- Today, more women than men are likely to die of heart disease. In 1983, it was the other way around. This is due, in part, to women being older and having other significant health problems at the time a heart attack occurs.
- Only 40% of women who were having a heart attack actually thought they were, because they didn’t experience pain in their chest.
- Only 25% of women who should be taking aspirin therapy (a baby aspirin each day to protect their heart) are actually doing so.
- Minority women in particular are at risk for heart disease – nearly half of African-American women have some form of heart disease, compared to 32% for Caucasian women.
- Awareness of heart disease as the #1 killer of women has increased by 23% in the last five years, from 34% to 57%. Yet 43 million women are still living with heart disease.
- People who are physically active reduce their risk of developing coronary heart disease by up to 50% and decrease their risk of premature death by 20-30%.
- Of the 1 million people per year who die of cardiovascular diseases, 53% are women.
- Only 8% of women consider cardiovascular disease their greatest health risk, yet nearly 1 in 2 will die of it. Whereas only 1 in every 33 women will succumb to breast cancer.
- People who are 30 pounds or more overweight are more likely to develop heart disease even if they have no other risk factors.
- The number of people with diabetes is growing at a rate of up to 10% per year.
- Having diabetes increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and heart failure 2- to 6-fold.
- Having hypertension doubles the risk for cardiovascular disease and heart failure.
For more information on heart attack treatment, call us at 314-996-3627 or contact us online.