Experts have warned of one common heart attack sign that most women ignore. It comes as this symptom often affects women the most.
Around 77 British women die of a heart attack every day so experts have warned about brushing off the signs. Most people experience symptoms such as a painful chest when they're having a heart attack.
Yet, feelings of heartburn, anxiety and 'funny turns' are also highly common, reports the Daily Record. And because they seem fairly harmless, women don't seek the medical attention they need.
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The Mirror reports that experts have warned of the lesser-known heart attack symptom of indigestion, saying it could signal the condition.
A study, published in the journal Circulation, found that indigestion was a common symptom experienced by women in the month leading up to their cardiac event.
Around 39 percent of the cohort reported the uncomfortable sensation before their heart attack, but indigestion was not common during the heart attack itself.
Indigestion can be pain or discomfort in your upper abdomen (dyspepsia) or burning pain behind the breastbone (heartburn), says the NHS. The aim of the study was to accurately describe the women’s coronary heart disease symptoms, to develop a deeper understanding of the warning signs.
The researchers said: "The current description of 'typical' cardiac symptoms is based primarily on the experience of white, middle-aged men.” But this "contributes to misunderstandings in clinicians and lay individuals, leads to inaccurate diagnosis, and causes women to delay seeking treatment."
They added that in earlier research, they found that between 85 to 90 percent of women reported several different symptoms in the period leading up to a heart attack.
The most common symptoms women identified in the month before the heart attack include:
Unusual fatigue (71 per cent)
Sleep disturbance (48 per cent)
Shortness of breath (42 per cent)
Indigestion (39 per cent)
Anxiety (36 per cent)
During a heart attack women experienced:
Shortness of breath (58 per cent)
Weakness (55 per cent)
Unusual fatigue (43 per cent)
Cold sweat (39 per cent)
Dizziness (39 per cent)
According to the British Heart Foundation, women are 50 percent more likely to be wrongly diagnosed when it comes to heart problems than men. And to help minimise the risks, a doctor came up with some key lifestyle changes you should implement in order to stay healthy.
Dr Nancy K. Sweitzer says that you should quit smoking, eat a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, keep to a healthy waistline, cut down on alcohol and exercise often to keep your heart healthy. She came up with these five lifestyle factors after citing a similar study from Sweden’s Karolinska Institute.
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