Dear Reader,

While the symptoms for heart attack can be similar in men and women, we know from recent research that differences also exist. Some women who have experienced a heart attack reported having difficulty breathing and feeling discomfort that seemed "flu-like" (e.g., fatigue, weakness, clammy or sweaty skin), in addition to, or instead of, the other more typical heart attack symptoms, such as chest pain and pressure.

Most of the earlier studies on heart disease focused almost exclusively on men. Lately, researchers have been including women in their studies, or focusing exclusively on women and heart disease. Although a lot more information needs to be gathered, more and more is being learned everyday about the nature of heart disease in women. While this is still an active area of research, currently we know that symptoms of heart attack can include:

• Chest pain or pressure (a feeling of heaviness) that lasts for more than a few minutes and does not go away when you rest or sit down. This is the most common symptom and must not be ignored. People who experience this symptom need to seek immediate emergency medical attention. While this symptom does not always indicate that a person is having a heart attack, this is a symptom that needs to be fully evaluated.
• Pain that spreads to the back, shoulders, neck, jaw, or arms
• Chest pain along with feeling dizzy, faint, nauseated, or short of breath

Recent research has also shown that women can often receive different treatment for their heart disease. Women are less likely than men to get full diagnostic work-ups for chest pain, and are more likely than men to die from a first heart attack. Although no one is sure exactly why this is the case, part of the problem may be a misperception on the part of women and/or their health care providers that heart disease is something only men have to worry about. This myth sometimes leads women and their providers to skip screenings and ignore symptoms.

According to the American Heart Association, 53 percent of people who died of heart attacks in 1998 were women. Unfortunately, four out of five women surveyed do not know that heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women over 40 years of age.

To learn more about the ways in which women can reduce their risk of heart attack, go to the National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease Web site. Another resource is the National Institutes of Health (NIH) publication, Healthy Heart Handbook for Women.

Alice

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