Women's hearts (was: Hello Cecelia)

[Guest guest]

Hi, !

What you said hit home for me. My dad had his first heart attack at

43, his mother had her first at 45, and I've always been very aware

of the possibility that I could follow in their footsteps. I try to

keep on top of my cardiac health as a result.

However, you're wrong when you say that women's heart attacks are

more mild so they go unnoticed. The problem is the standard " warning

signs " for heart disease were all developed with men as the standard

patient. Heart disease in women has a different presentation, or set

of symptoms. Common symptoms for women include shortness of breath,

often without chest pain of any kind; flu-like symptoms —

specifically nausea, clamminess or cold sweats; unexplained fatigue,

weakness or dizziness; feelings of anxiety, loss of appetite, or

discomfort; and then of course the old standard symptoms - pain in

the chest, upper back, shoulders, neck, or jaw.

Also, 63% of women who die from heart disease had NO PREVIOUS

SYMPTOMS! Since a lot of the symptoms listed above are easily

confused with other illnesses that women commonly shrug off, that

means that a lot of women ignore the symptoms of a heart attack until

well after they could get in and get the early treatment like clot-

busting drugs that would save their lives. I mean, how many times

have you (any of you) had a mild flu or a tired spell and

just " worked through " it because you needed to take care of the

kids/husband/job/whatever????

OK, so I'm ranting. I had a scare last February when I had a

horrible, crushing upper back pain that was so bad I couldn't take a

breath. I went in to Santa Clara's ER on the busiest night they'd had

all winter; I had EKGs that looked abnormal, so I had a nuclear

stress test (scariest thing I've EVER had done since they didn't know

that it would cause my blood sugar to crash, and I hadn't eaten in 15

hours by then!). That was slightly " off " , so I ended up having a

cardiac cath done down at Santa the next day. . . the good

news, finally, was that my heart was actually absolutely, 100% clear -

no blockages of ANY type. My cardiologist finally agreed that maybe

it was a muscle spasm from a fall I took a week or so before.

However, he said, it *could* have been a heart attack. And he's lost

a lot of patients who waited too long because they mistook their

symptoms for indigestion, or fatigue, or flu.

Actually, one of the reasons I'm considering WLS right now is that I

feel almost as if I've been given a sign - my heart seems to be in

much better shape right now than I was afraid it might be. Now, at

least. If I wait ten years, that may not be true.

OK, //rant off. . . I'm just like , though, and I'd hate to

lose anyone from this group because they didn't pay attention to the

signals in time!

Cathy C.

> We have new motivation to lose weight (as if we really needed

anymore)

> My wife found out her mother (already a raging diabetic) had a mild

> heart attack. Didn't realize it...she just felt bad for a few

weeks.

> Went to see her Doctor and had the test...she had an attack two

weeks

> ago. She goes in for a heart catheter procedure on Monday to find

out

> the extent of the damage. This is the odd thing with a lot of women

> from what I understand. Unlike men, their heart attacks are

mild...so

> they go unnoticed. Which is still dangerous because left

> untreated...well you know.

>

> SO PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR HEART LADIES! I don't want to lose anyone

in

> here...

>

>

[Guest guest]

If I may add...heart disease is the #1 killer of women. More than

than cancer even. Cancer is second and stroke is third on the list.

Red Dress Pin Wearer,

Azin

> > We have new motivation to lose weight (as if we really needed

> anymore)

> > My wife found out her mother (already a raging diabetic) had a

mild

> > heart attack. Didn't realize it...she just felt bad for a few

> weeks.

> > Went to see her Doctor and had the test...she had an attack two

> weeks

> > ago. She goes in for a heart catheter procedure on Monday to

find

> out

> > the extent of the damage. This is the odd thing with a lot of

women

> > from what I understand. Unlike men, their heart attacks are

> mild...so

> > they go unnoticed. Which is still dangerous because left

> > untreated...well you know.

> >

> > SO PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR HEART LADIES! I don't want to lose

anyone

> in

> > here...

> >

> >