Overview
A heart condition is one of the biggest killers in the world for both men and women. Earlier a study suggested that men and women with mild heart disease share the same risks at least over the short term. Doctors have thought that women with mild heart disease do worse than men. However, this study suggests that the rate of heart attacks and death among men and women with heart disease is similar.
As per the lead researcher, Dr. Jonathon Leipsic, director of medical imaging at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, British Columbia, “Meanwhile both men and women who do not have build-up of plaque in their coronary arteries have the same good chance to avoid severe heart-related consequences. If you have a normal CT scan, then you are not likely to have a heart attack or die in the next 2.3 years- whether you are a man or a woman. That’s an important new finding.” Further he said that the ability to use a CT scan for diagnosing plaque in the coronary arteries has enabled the researchers to determine whether the outcomes are the same for men and women, irrespective of what other tests show.
But as per a new study, the signs of heart attack vary with gender. Though men tend to report the stereotypical chest pain but women rarely do so.
The Study
According to the study conducted by the researchers in Florida, they have looked at the range of symptoms that have been experienced by both men and women while they are having a heart attack. This was done in order to help the people of both sexes to identify the heart attack if they have one. They set out to look at the prevalence of chest pain with heart attack and whether the chest pain can give an indication of if the patient is likely to die from the heart attack.
The symptoms of a heart attack can vary from extreme chest pain, loss of breath, tingling limbs and nausea. The researchers have looked at the records of over a million Americans who suffered a heart attack within a set of 12 year period from 1994 to 2006. They recorded the gender, symptoms and death rates for each testimony examined.
The Results
Around 30.7% women reported chest pain during their heart attack, with younger women less likely to experience it than the older ones. What’s more surprising is that less than half i.e. just 42% of the men reported crushing chest pain as a symptom of their heart attack. These results show contrary to the popular belief, chest pain is not a key symptom of a heart attack. Most people who have a heart attack do not experience chest pain at all. Some have no pain whatsoever while they are having a heart attack in the chest, jar, arm or neck.
It is significant that people are aware that the unexplained shortness of breath, sweating and nausea are vital signs of a heart attack. In case these symptoms arise, then people who are at higher risk of heart attack such as those who are overweight or aged over 50 should seek medical attention.
Bottom Line
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