The Real Silent Killer

Do you know that the symptoms of a heart attack are not that obvious in women as they are in men?

As what we used to see on the television on how they portrayed “heart attack” as dramatic as they can or we can say “exaggerate” . Where in reality, there are some people who got minimal or no signs when they are having a heart attack. However, the symptoms that we are used to when we say “heart attack” are severe chest pain, giddiness, and shortness of breath. Remember that the usual reason why heart attack result in death is because of not getting to the hospital in time.

The signs of a heart attack are not as obvious in women as they are in men. Women would experience palpitations, dizziness, breathlessness, chest pain, anxiety, nausea, neck and shoulder pain and unusual fatigue. Heart attacks with atypical symptoms, especially to those diabetics, are tend to be more common in women than men.

As the WHO or World Health Organization stated; “Cardiovascular diseases are the number one cause of death globally”

We should always remember that the advanced warning symptoms of a heart attack usually last for only 20 minutes, during which women may experience one or more symptoms.

These may include the following:

Pain in the chest – Women tend to have light chest pains, reason why most of them ten to not take this symptom seriously. Heart attack usually results in discomfort or pain in the center of our chest, which only last not more than 20 minutes and is usually with profuse sweating at the same time. The feel of pain may come on suddenly, then start slowly, then come and go; til’ the pain spreads.

Discomfort in the upper body – did you know that not all people who gets heart attack experienced chest pain? Some of them are only discomfort in parts of the upper body including back, neck or jaw pain.

Extreme tiredness / Over-fatigue – A study of 515 women published in the Journal Circulation found that the most common advanced warning symptoms of heart attack in women is unusual fatigue.

Pain Spreading – The chain-reaction of chest pain is spread of pain to the neck and throat, shoulders, jaw, the back, arms upto the wrist and hands. Worst, you might feel paralyzed in some of the parts of your body.

Unusual signs – there might be difficulty breathing or shortness of breath, sometimes vomiting, nausea or a feeling of being dizzy or light-headed, a cold sweat and anxious.

We recommend you to see a doctor if ever you experience one or more of such symptoms. If you suspect that you feel like having a heart attack, don’t hesitate and get help immediately.