Hey viewers!
Heart disease is the most common killer of women and men in the United States.
Did you know that Heart disease kills five times more women than breast cancer?
That might shock you but when it comes to the symptoms of a heart attack they may not
be as noticeable in women as they are in men.
Research also shows that women are less likely to get the aggressive treatment and care from
a cardiologist than men.
That’s why in today’s video we’re gonna talk all about some common signs and symptoms
of a heart attack or heart disease that women often miss.
Do you feel symptoms weeks in advance?
Can pregnancy up your risk of a heart attack?
What is a silent heart attack?
We’re gonna answer all these questions and more.
Early Symptoms Yes it’s true, women can feel symptoms up
to a year before an actual heart attack happens.
Women are often considered unusual when it comes to heart attack symptoms and they can
be tricky to identify.
Here are some of the warning signs that can often be a precursor to a heart attack weeks
or months down the road.
#1 Anxiety Although anxiety may seem like no big deal,
it can cause all kinds of harm to the mind and body.
Stress can release the hormone cortisol which can cause damage to your body and your heart.
High amounts of stress can cause your blood pressure to rise, upping your risk of hypertension.
If you’re feeling nervous most of the time for no apparent reason you might want to look
into hobbies that can relax you, like painting, walking in nature, meditation or yoga.
#2 Fatigue We all get run down from time to time.
If you’re feeling tired try to give yourself a break and take a day of rest.
If you still feel tired after getting a good night’s sleep and taking a day for yourself,
then it’s likely fatigue.
You just can’t get your energy levels up and it lasts for days on end.
This is one of the most common early symptoms of heart attack in women, as 70% of women
reported this being a long term symptom.
Before we continue with the good stuff, don’t forget to hit that subscribe button and click
the notification bell so you never miss any updates from Bestie!
#3 Trouble Sleeping We all lose sleep sometimes, but if it’s
a consistent thing, or if you’re waking up in the night more than you usually do,
you should take note.
Losing sleep can be very harmful, we all need sleep to restore our minds and bodies so it’s
good to get to the bottom of it anyway.
But, if you’re waking up in the night because of an ache or pain that won’t go away, this
might be an early warning sign of a heart attack.
#4 Chest discomfort or Indigestion Mild chest pain can often be mistaken for
indigestion.
It could feel like a burning sensation in the upper area of the abdomen.
If this feeling persists, you might want to get it checked out.
If you experience any kind of chest pain you should always take it seriously.
Ok, now that you know some of the early signs here are some common symptoms of a heart attack
in women.
#1 Chest Pain This one is a common symptom in both men and
women.
Sharp pains in the chest are a tell tale sign of a heart attack.
If you feel tightness, aching, squeezing, or a heavy pressure on your chest you want
to contact a doctor right away.
The weird part is that women can have a heart attack and not experience any chest pain at
all.
In a 2003 study almost 30 percent of women had chest pain before the heart attack occurred,
even weeks before.
#2 Pain in the Neck, Jaw or Back When something is wrong in the body, you can
often feel pain somewhere else.
Confusing, right?
That’s another reason why women find it harder to identify a heart attack.
Pain in the jaw, back or neck are a common signal for a heart condition.
Women can also experience pain in both arms, not just the left one.
This can also be the type of pain that starts in the chest and moves to the back.
This type of pain will often keep a woman awake at night, like we mentioned earlier,
this one is linked to the early symptom of losing sleep.
#3 Sweating and Shortness of Breath When someone has a heart attack, sweating
is a sure sign.
However, women entering menopause often feel hot flashes.
The sudden feeling of being extremely warm which can cause you to sweat without any form
of exercise.
Hot flashes are not a symptom of a heart condition.
However, if you experience sweating coupled with shortness of breath or any of the othery
symptoms we’ve mentioned so far, it should be taken seriously as this could be a symptom
of a heart attack in women.
#4 Weakness Not to be confused with fatigue, feeling weak
or shaky is a known symptom of a heart attack in women.
Again, if this is coupled with any of the other symptoms that we mentioned earlier it
could be cause for concern.
Are you worried about the state of your heart?
Then you’ll love his video called “These Foods Clean Your Arteries & can Prevent A
Heart Attack” Check it out!
Knowing the symptoms isn’t all you can do to keep your heart healthy.
Here are some of the factors that can up your risk of Heart Disease as a woman.
#1 Pregnancy Pregnancy is truly a wonderful, and uneasy
time.
Women have to be extra careful when expecting and unfortunately complications during pregnancy
can up the risk of heart disease.
If a woman has high blood pressure or diabetes while pregnant will increase the risk of heart
disease later on in life.
More reason to be extra careful with your diet, and make sure you keep your stress levels
under control.
#2 Diabetes It turns out that women who have diabetes
are more likely to develop heart disease than men who have diabetes.
How unfair!
Diabetes is also harmful to women because it can actually mask the way a woman feels
pain, which puts her at risk of a silent heart attack.
#3 Menopause Again, this is another area that makes women
more likely to have heart disease later on in life.
After menopause you lose some of the hormones that provide you with some protection from
heart disease.
Your body may store more fat as you age which can be harmful in many ways.
For instance it can up your level of triglycerides and LDL or bad cholesterol.
Women post menopause also have a tendency to higher blood pressure, and they're more
likely to have sweating and sleeping issues.
All things that can up the risk of heart disease.
#4 Lifestyle Choice This one can be applied to anyone, male or
female.
Partaking in activities like smoking, or taking stimulant drugs can up your risk of heart
attack, so if you haven’t already maybe now’s the time to ditch the cigarettes.
Not getting the recommended 150 hours of exercise each week and being a couch potato will also
do your body more harm than good.
Even getting out for a walk each night or every other night will do your body and mind
a world of good.
Keeping your stress levels under control plays a big role when it comes to heart disease.
Like we talked about earlier stress can up your blood pressure and ultimately increase
the risk of a heart attack.
The Silent Heart Attack Before we finish, we need to talk about the
silent heart attack.
Studies suggest that it’s more common in women than men which makes it pretty scary.
It’s like the name suggests, it’s a heart attack that has no specific symptoms, so it’s
often dismissed as anxiety or a strained muscle in a woman’s back.
Some women only experience fatigue for an extended period of time before they finally
talk to a doctor to try and explain the cause.
Sometimes it may feel like the flu or simple indigestion.
Women who have these symptoms are often ignored, or they’re attributed to something else
which means patients will only discover months later that they have, in fact, suffered a
heart attack.
The cause of the dreaded silent heart attack is when the flow of blood to the heart is
blocked, usually by a buildup of plaque.
Because these types of heart attacks don’t get diagnosed until much later they can cause
much more damage to the heart.
This then puts women at a higher risk of developing heart complications later on.
One of the biggest problems is that these symptoms are not taken seriously.
If you have experienced one or more of these symptoms, trust your instincts and do what
you think is right.
If something seems off in your body, it probably is and it’s worth getting checked out.
Have you ever heard of a silent heart attack?
Are you someone who’s at risk?
Let us know in the comments below, we’d love to hear from you!