Heart Disease and Women Dec 2000

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Heart Disease and Women - misc. descriptions of symptoms on the web. added 12/30/00

http://www.cardiology.tulane.edu/TWHC.html
Are there any differences between women and men when it comes to heart disease? YES!!! The symptoms of heart disease in women may be different than in men and therefore at first not recognized. Fatigue, dizziness, palpitations, or feeling short of breath may be a women's only symptoms. They may not even experience chest pain. Women may not think they are at risk and as a result may not see their doctor even when symptoms of heart disease become obvious. Even when they visit their physician, their symptoms may not be recognized as coming from the heart. If the diagnosis of heart disease is suspected, the majority of standard treatments of heart disease used are based on research done in men. All these may be reasons contributing to the statistics showing that 44% of women die in the first year after a heart attack as opposed to 27% of men.

http://www.heartinfo.org/whcgallup96.htm
MAJORITY OF PRIMARY CARE PHYSICIANS UNAWARE OF DIFFERENCES IN HEART DISEASE IN MEN AND WOMEN; MANY CASES OF HEART DISEASE IN WOMEN UNDIAGNOSED
National Gallup Survey Results Found Alarming
November 21, 1996-- Washington, D.C.-- Results from a national Gallup survey announced yesterday found nearly two-thirds of the nation's primary care physicians inaccurately reported "no difference" in the symptoms, warning signs and diagnosis of heart disease in women, compared to men. The survey, commissioned by Washington Hospital Center, queried 256 internists and family practitioners across the country to determine front-line physicians' awareness of the prevalence, severity and signs of heart disease in women.

"If a physician follows the classic male model for diagnosing heart disease, a huge number of women with heart disease will be missed," said Washington Hospital Center cardiologist Patricia Davidson, MD. "Both women and their physicians must be aware that the symptoms of women's heart disease are different from men's."

"This survey is particularly important because primary care physicians are often the first point of contact in diagnosing the disease," said Joy Drass, MD, Vice President for Professional Services at Washington Hospital Center. "It is also significant because of the sheer number of women affected."

Heart disease is the leading cause of death among American women, each year claiming 233,000 lives -- six times the number of women who die of breast cancer annually. Prevalence of the disease among women is also high. Each year, 625,000 women suffer a heart attack. Over 28 million American women are living with the effects of cardiovascular disease, including heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke. Of these, more than one-half are under the age of 65.

While angina (chest pain) is a major indicator of heart disease in both women and men, other symptoms in women, such as shortness of breath and chronic fatigue, are very common and are often being ignored. Although two out of three physicians surveyed identified shortness of breath as a warning sign of heart disease in women, chronic fatigue was listed by less than one out of five respondents and only 10 percent mentioned other important symptoms for women, including nausea, dizziness or swelling of the ankles.

Just as important, women also do not recognize their risk. In another survey of 1,000 women living in the Washington metropolitan region, which was conducted by Washington Hospital Center last December, women relegated heart disease to third place when ranking their health concerns, with breast cancer and stress topping the list. In addition, another Gallup survey released last fall, 70 percent of women stated that the symptoms of heart disease are the same for both women and men.

http://www.drsinatra.com/pages/cardio-women&men.php
Women's early warning symptoms often appear to be only anxiety, stress, or indigestion. Signs of coronary insufficiency include discomfort in the chest, waking up at night with difficulty catching breath, chronic generalized fatigue, a pain below the left shoulder blade or elsewhere in the back, pain or tingling in jaw, elbow or arm, a pain in the left arm simultaneous with chest pain, throat tightness, shortness of breath, gastro-intestinal problems accompanied by a feeling of fullness and wanting to burp, nausea and vomiting, lightheadedness, dizziness, or vertigo with exertion, disproportionate sweating with activity, angina or heart attack.

Women's first medically recognized symptom may be a heart attack

Men may have many medically recognized warnings before full heart attack. Part of the problem is that the original "textbook" warning signs were based on studies of younger men, not older women.

Women may not recognize any signs until being admitted to the hospital for angina or heart attack. Women's symptoms are so subtle that they are sometimes only detected afterwards by medical technology. These are called "silent" heart attacks. A silent heart attack may represent one-third of all coronary-related events in women. Diabetes can compound the problem of detecting such heart attacks, as nerve endings are desensitized. For diabetics, the only sure signs may be shortness of breath and fatigue.

Men can experience angina, but it is a different phenomenon

Women's angina comes and goes with no obvious cause, and may not improve with rest. Women's angina is often mistaken for gastrointestinal problems. Women experience chronic lower-grade angina symptoms rather than sudden dramatic signs like men.

http://visitors.bestofhealth.com/newsletter/Previous/May00/heartdis.html
The following household activities scale was developed to help women with heart disease monitor their symptoms. Household chores are used because most women perform them -- even if not active otherwise. They also tend to experience higher stress when the chores aren't done. That means women sometimes feel compelled to do chores when it's physically difficult. When chores become more physically difficult, it can be a sign of worsening symptoms.

Sometimes women change the way they do chores because of chest pain and discomfort, shortness of breath or other symptoms of heart disease. Some women are forced to completely stop some or all of these activities. Screen for how symptoms affect activity by completing the chart below. If several of these chores have become difficult, make an appointment with your doctor as soon as possible. Mention your results on this scale.

http://www.health-science.com/heart_disease_in_women.htm
Heart Disease is a woman's concern. Every woman's concern. One in ten American women 45 to 64 years of age has some form of heart disease, and this increases to one in four women over 65. Overall, about 9 million American women of all ages suffer from heart disease. Another 2 million women have had a stroke. Both heart disease and stroke are known as cardiovascular diseases, which include serious disorders of the heart and blood vessel system.

High blood cholesterol is a condition that greatly increases your chances of developing coronary heart disease, the main form of heart disease. That is because extra cholesterol in the blood collects in the inner walls of the arteries, allowing less blood to get to the heart.

Today, about one-quarter of American women have blood cholesterol levels high enough to pose a serious risk for heart disease. Blood cholesterol among women tends to rise from the age of 20 onward, but goes up sharply beginning at about age 40. It continues to increase until about age 60. More than half of women over age 55 need to lower their blood cholesterol.

http://www.rexhealth.com/cent_serv/heart/women.html
Signs and symptoms of heart attack for women:

Tightness, pressure or squeezing in the chest, throat, upper abdomen or neck that can travel down the left arm causing tingling or numbness.
Difficulty breathing that occurs with or without exertion. Also, waking during the night out of breath.
Swelling of the legs and/or ankles
Nausea and indigestion-like symptoms including heartburn and/or feeling sick to your stomach.
Unexplained and severe anxiety, fatigue and general weakness and/or lack of energy.
Palpitations, cold sweat and/or paleness