Some warning signs for women. Very few pre-menopausal women have heart attacks, unless they smoke, have diabetes, or are on birth control pills for a long period of time. Smoking seems to be the biggest risk factor:
• Nausea and vomiting that won’t stop
• Breathlessness (but not sighing) with exertion or especially if it wakes you up at night
• Chest discomfort that starts behind the breast bone and radiates to either shoulder or arm, neck, or to the lower (but not upper) jaw
• Discomfort in the lower jaw especially if it occurs only with exertion or will not go away
• Discomfort in the chest or back that occurs when doing usual chores after a large meal
• Sudden onset of weakness that won’t go away
• Sudden racing heart sensation with a very fast pulse
• Sudden loss of consciousness
•
Physical inability to perform usual household chores
Who is most at risk with these symptoms? The more of these factors that apply to you, the greater your risk:
• Menstruation has stopped
• Smoking
• Family history of arteriosclerotic heart disease before age 60
• High blood pressure (even treated)
• Diabetes (even mild, even treated)
• Obesity
•
High cholesterol (even treated)
Other Links:
http://www.americanheart.org/
http://www.justmove.org/
