Feelings of fatigue, abdominal or back pain, nausea, shortness of breath are sometimes the only signs a female may have before a heart attack. Although men and women’s hearts are made the same and they both accumulate plaque there is a subtle difference. The plaque in women’s hearts seems to be spread out more throughout the vessel lining. It is assumed that this may be why women don’t exhibit the same symptoms as men. Heart disease may not be discovered in women as much as it is in men because of different symptoms. Physicians are looking for the tell tale symptoms that men have which are chest pain and difficulty in breathing. The heavy plaque buildup seen in men is not discovered in women because they distribute it more evenly.
Your heart is about the size of your fist and beats 100,000 times a day. Without major symptoms that heart is assumed to be working fine.. Women instead concentrate their health concerns on breast cancer and reproductive health. Actually the number one problem for women is heart disease.
Because women’s symptoms that may lead to a heart attack are so subtle, knowing one’s risk factors can be another clue to be more aware of what a women’s body is telling her. The odds are increased by aging and having a family history of heart disease. Heart disease occurs about 10 years after men have heart attacks. The years between 50 and 60 after menopause are a risk factor. Diabetics have two to four times the risk of heart disease. Diabetes is a bigger risk factor for women than for men and heart disease in female diabetics can begin without any symptoms. Heart disease risk is 69% higher in African-American women than in whites.
Because of these many subtle symptoms that are hard to detect it is recommended that women have more tests to determine the state of their heart. Blood sugar tests help determine diabetes and its risks. There is a hemoglobin A1c test that estimates average blood sugar over a month. C-reactive protein test is very important for women since they can have high levels of this inflammatory marker and yet not have high cholesterol.
The electrocardiogram test may be distorted for women due to breast tissue. Another technique that is better is echocardiography which employs ultrasound and nuclear imaging.
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