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8 Womens Heart Attack Warning Signs
Know the Difference from that of Men’s
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You could have a heart attack without feeling any chest pain. Heart disease and heart failure don’t always show the same signs for everyone. Especially for women.
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The heart is a muscle which contracts to pump blood to the body. A heart attack occurs when the heart muscle doesn’t get enough blood, the job of which is to carry oxygen and nutrients to the heart muscle.
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This lack of blood flow to your heart muscle will cause damage, sometimes deadly.
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Heart attacks happen suddenly. Normally this is due to long-standing heart disease. A waxy plaque builds up on the walls inside the blood vessels. Sometimes a chunk of this plaque will break off from the wall. This plaque or a blood clot can prevent blood from flowing to the heart muscles, resulting in a heart attack.
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Heart Attack Symptoms Vary Between Men and Women
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As with men, the most common heart attack symptom in women is chest pain or discomfort.
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Women are somewhat more likely than men to experience other common symptoms such as back or jaw pain, nausea/vomiting and shortness of breath.
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Let’s now check out 8 warning signs of a heart attack in women.
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#1. Chest pain, Pressure and Discomfort
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During a heart attack, most affected people experience some sort of chest pain, pressure or discomfort. (However, chest pains do not occur in every heart attack).
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Most people describe this chest pain similar to the sensation of an elephant is standing on their chest! Other people don’t have this sensation; they may, however, feel a chest tightness or squeezing.
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Sometimes, this discomfort can seem bad for a few minutes, then go away and come back hours or even a day later.
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All these signs indicate that your heart muscle isn’t getting enough oxygen. If you experience chest pains, pressure or tightness, you or someone should call for emergency medical treatment.
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#2. Shortness of Breath
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There is a close relation between your breathing and efficient blood flow. Your heart pumps blood so that it can circulate to your tissues as well as get oxygen from your lungs.
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If your heart cannot pump blood efficiently as in case of a heart attack, then you will feel a shortness of breath. In women, this shortness of breath can sometimes be accompanied by unusual fatigue.
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Some women complain of unusual shortness of breath and exhaustion. This can be a common warning sign of a heart attack in women.
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#3. Sweating During Day and Night
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Unusual sweating, especially when you are not exercising or being active, could be a early warning sign of a heart attack.
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The job of pumping blood through clogged arteries requires more so that your body will sweat more to try to keep its temperature down during the extra exertion. If you notice cold sweats or clammy skin, you should consult your doctor immediately.
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Night sweats is a common symptom for women experiencing heart troubles. Many women mistake this as an effect of menopause. If you wake up and your sheets are soaked or you cannot sleep due to sweating, then it could be a warning sign of a heart attack.
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#4. Pain and Tightness in Other Parts of the Body
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Women tend to report heart attacks causing pain in the lower portion of the chest and the lower abdomen. Pain may not be concentrated to the chest instead it could feel like pressure in the chest and pain in other parts of the body. Upper back pain is the most commonly cited signs for heart attack in women than men.
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#5. Indigestion, nausea, and vomiting
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Often people experience mild indigestion and other gastrointestinal problems before a heart attack. Heart attacks occur often in older people who experience indigestion problems.
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The danger here is that these symptoms may be dismissed as heartburn or another food-related complications.
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If you have an iron stomach, then indigestion or heartburn could signal that something else is wrong.
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#6. Fatigue
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Fatigue is less commonly recognized as a warning sign of heart attack in women. According to some women, heart attack symptoms are flu-like. A heart attack will cause exhaustion due to the extra stress on the heart as it tries to pump through an area of blockage.
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If you feel tired or exhausted often for no reason, you should investigate it. Fatigue and shortness of breath are common warning signs of heart attack in women. Not so for men. It is therefore important to see a doctor as early as possible.
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#7. Heart Palpitations
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Heart palpitation symptoms include the sensation of the heart skipping a beat to changes in heart rhythm and the feeling of throbbing or pounding in your chest.
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Heart palpitations due to a heart attack create a sense of unease or anxiety in women. Some people describe it as a pounding in their neck and not just their chest.
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You should not ignore changes in the rhythm of your heart. Once your heart is consistently out of rhythm, it needs immediate medical intervention to get back into rhythm.
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If your heart palpitations are accompanied by chest pressure, dizziness, chest pain or fainting, then it could indicate an imminent heart attack.
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#8. Light-headedness
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Light-headedness or dizziness can occur with a heart attack in women. It is certainly not a normal feeling and shouldn’t be ignored if you experience it. Some women fear passing out if they try to stand up or overexert themselves.
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What should you do during a heart attack?
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If you think you are having a heart attack, you or someone nearby should call the emergency services immediately. It is unsafe to drive yourself to the hospital during a heart attack, so call an ambulance.
It is estimated that 200,000 deaths from heart attacks are preventable. There are things which you can do to reduce your risk of a heart attack in the future.
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People who have already had a heart attack should be meticulous to take the medications prescribed by their physician. Always check with your doctor before you stop taking any of the medications.
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Preventive Measures to Implement
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One of the most important thing is to change your diet. Dietary misdemeanors lead to many cardiovascular problems.
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Adopt a REAL food diet. Eat foods as nature designed them. The consumption of nutrient-rich foods beneficial for the heart cannot be over-emphasised.
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Eliminate immediately fast foods, denatured food products including GM-ed foods and pseudo foods like high fructose corn syrup HFCS. Sugar is known to be once big precursor to cancer, and also cancer fodder.
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Lose excess weight by retraining your brain to eat in a new healthful way. Retrain your palate to enjoy a whole new way of enjoying real food. Join a group of people who celebrate and enjoy real delicious food as medicine!
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Lifestyle issues are vital. One big one is stress. Stress can kill. Either change your lifestyle on this one, and learn how to stop mental stress using mind control techniques.
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Another is insufficient REM sleep. The ramifications of this permeate every aspect of your life including your health and cardiovascular.
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Author Bio
Anjali is an avid blogger from India. She covers topics on beauty, wellness, health and lifestyle.
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