A Woman's Heart: Symptoms of Heart Attack

What many people, including many healthcare professionals, don't realize is that the symptoms of heart attack in women are often different than in men. Women are more likely to experience nausea, dizziness, and anxiety as symptoms that indicate a heart attack.

• Chest pain-may also include back pain and/or deep aching and throbbing in one or both arms.
• Breathlessness and/or inability to catch your breath when waking up.
• Clammy sweating.
• Dizziness--unexplained lightheadedness, possible blackouts.
• Anxiety--unusual nervousness, feelings of impending doom.
• Edema--fluid retention and swelling usually of the ankles or lower legs.
• Fluttering--rapid heartbeats, palpitations.
• Nausea--gastric upset.
• Feeling of heaviness, such as pressure-like chest pain between the breasts that may radiate to the left arm or shoulder.

Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death in women and it is the most preventable cause of death. Women should pay particular attention to these symptoms and seek immediate advice from a healthcare professional if these symptoms occur.

The following tips can help lower your risk of heart disease:

• Maintain a regular schedule of aerobic exercise
• Eat heart-healthy meals, and if you are overweight, lose weight
• Drink in moderation--if at all
• If you smoke--quit!