Women’s heart attack symptoms often go unnoticed, Beacon cardiologist warns

Heart disease kills more women than all cancers combined, yet most women don’t recognize it as their greatest health threat.

“Heart disease is a number one killer of women more than all cancers combined,” said Dr. Samuel Huxley, interventional cardiologist with Beacon Medical Group’s Advanced Cardiology Specialists in South Bend. Yet “only half of women really realize that it’s an important health threat to them.”

“Women are more likely to die from a heart attack than men. And women’s symptoms often go unnoticed. Many are either dismissed or just don’t think their symptoms represent a heart attack or heart disease,” Dr. Huxley said during a WVPE radio interview for National Heart Month and Wear Red Day (February 6).

Listen to the full interview here.

“Classic kind of chest pain, elephant sitting on the chest is not the most common symptom that women have,” Dr. Huxley said. “Women often have other warning signs or atypical symptoms. So that could be heart palpitations, heart racing, dizziness, back pain, burning heartburn digestion, shortness of breath or fatigue or feeling like they’re running out of energy before they should.”

“It’s important that we, you know, as physicians, health care providers recognize these differences and also that patients and women particularly who have atypical symptoms are also aware of these symptoms that may represent a heart attack or heart disease.”

The good news? Estimates are about that 75 to 80 percent of heart attacks are preventable, especially if patients get evaluated early before they develop heart disease.

Dr. Huxley recommends women start by checking things like blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol and lipid panel to help determine their risk profile. He also suggests eating heart healthy foods like fish, nuts, whole grains and olive oils, while avoiding sweets, butter and cholesterol.

“The American Heart recommends 150 minutes a week of some sort of aerobic activity, just consistent movement in getting the heart rate up,” he said. “But I tell my patients, if you can move for 15 minutes a day and do some brisk walking or something that’s going to get the heart rate up and get you moving, 15 minutes a day is better than zero.”

His message to women: don’t wait.

“We don’t want to wait for you to lose weight. We don’t want to wait for you to do things. We rather have you see you come as you are currently. We’ll do a full evaluation. Your health is 24-7, not just in February and not just in a heart month.”

And if you or someone you love have either concerning symptoms or symptoms that are not being addressed? “Don’t ignore those. Come in and get evaluated so we can make sure that nothing serious is going on.”