Women are up to two times more likely to die of a heart attack than men.1 Women are not “small men” and there are important differences that impact women’s heart health and management - including differences in heart attack symptoms.2
This is why it’s so important to raise awareness about the differences in symptoms, and if you feel something, say something.
Compared to men, women are more likely to have heart attack symptoms unrelated to chest pain,3 such as:
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Lack of awareness of heart attack symptoms is so problematic that in one study, more than half of women who were having a heart attack did not perceive their symptoms as being heart-related, and more than 20% thought their symptoms were related to stress or anxiety.4 The same study also showed that clinicians can miss these symptoms as well. Among the women who had been evaluated for similar symptoms prior to the heart attack, more than half were told by their provider that the pain was not heart related.
