♥
Women & Heart Attacks
♥
Dear friends,
I am forwarding this as it may help save lives, or more importantly that of our loved ones.
I was aware that female heart attacks are different, but this is the best description I’ve ever read. You all take care out there!
♥
Women and heart attacks (Acute Myocardial infarction - AMI)
♥
Did you know that women rarely have the same dramatic symptoms that men have when experiencing heart attack…you know, the sudden stabbing pain in the chest, the cold sweat, grabbing the chest & dropping to the floor that we see in the movies. Here is the story of one woman’s experience with a heart attack.
♥
“I had a completely unexpected heart attack at about 10 :30 pm with NO prior exertion; NO prior emotional trauma that one would suspect might’ve brought it on. I was sitting all snugly & warm on a cold evening, with my purring cat in my lap, reading an interesting story my friend had sent me, and actually thinking,“A-A-h, this is the life, all cozy and warm in my soft, cushy Lazy Boy with my feet propped up.” A moment later, I felt that awful sensation of indigestion, when you’ve been in a hurry and grabbed a bite of sandwich and washed it down with a dash of water, and that hurried bite seems to feel like you’ve swallowed a golf ball going down the esophagus in slow motion and it is most uncomfortable. You realize you shouldn’t have gulped it down so fast and needed to chew it more thoroughly and this time drink a glass of water to hasten its progress down to the stomach. This was my initial sensation—the only trouble was that I hadn’t taken a bite of anything since about 5:00 p.m.
♥
After that had seemed to subside, the next sensation was like little squeezing motions that seemed to be racing up my SPINE (hind-sight, it was probably my aorta spasming), gaining speed as they continued racing up and under my sternum (breast bone, where one presses rhythmically when administering CPR). This fascinating process continued on into my throat and branched out into both jaws.
♥
AHA!! NOW I stopped puzzling about what was happening–we all have read and/or heard about pain in the jaws being one of the signals of an MI happening, haven’t we? I said aloud to myself and the cat, “Dear God, I think I’m having a heart attack!” I lowered the foot rest, dumping the cat from my lap, started to take a step and fell on the floor instead.
♥
I thought to myself “If this is a heart attack, I shouldn’t be walking into the next room where the phone is or anywhere else.but, on the other hand, if I don’t, nobody will know that I need help, and if I wait any longer I may not be able to get up in moment.”
♥
I pulled myself up with the arms of the chair, walked slowly into the next room and dialed the Paramedics… I told her I thought I was having a heart attack due to the pressure building under the sternum and radiating into my jaws. I didn’t feel hysterical or afraid, just stating the facts. She said she was sending the paramedics over immediately, asked if the front door was near to me, and if so, to unbolt the door and then lie down on the
floor where they could see me when they came in.
♥
I then laid down on the floor as instructed and lost consciousness, as I don’t remember the medics coming in, their examination, lifting me onto a gurney or getting me into their ambulance, or hearing the call they made to the Emergency Unit of a nearby hospital on the way, but I did briefly awaken when we arrived and saw that the Cardiologist was already there in his surgical blues and cap, helping the medics pull my stretcher out of the ambulance. He was bending over me asking questions (probably something like “Have you taken any medications?”) but I couldn’t make my mind interpret what he was saying, or form an answer, and nodded off again, not waking up until the Cardiologist and partner had already threaded the teeny angiogram balloon up my femoral artery into the aorta and into my heart where they installed 2 side by side stints to hold open my right coronary artery.
♥
I know it sounds like all my thinking and actions at home must have taken at least
20-30 minutes before calling the Paramedics, but actually it took perhaps 4-5 minutes before the call, although the hospital is only minutes away from my home, and my Cardiologist was already to go to the OR in his scrubs and get going on restarting my heart (which had stopped somewhere between my arrival and the procedure) and installing the stints.
♥
Why have I written all of this to you with so much detail? Because I want
all of you who are so important in my life to know what I learned first hand.
- Be aware that something very different is happening in your body not the usual men’s symptoms, but inexplicable things happening (until my sternum and jaws got into the act) It is said that many more women than men die of their first (and last) MI because they didn’t know they were having one, and commonly mistake it as indigestion, take some Maalox or other anti-heartburn preparation, and go to bed, hoping they’ll feel better in the morning when they wake up…which doesn’t happen. My female friends, your symptoms might not be exactly like mine, so I advise you to call the Paramedics if ANYTHING is unpleasantly happening that you’ve not felt before. It is better to have a “false alarm” visitation than to risk your life guessing what it might be!
- Note that I said “Call the Paramedics.” Ladies, TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!
- Do NOT try to drive yourself to the hospital–you’re a hazard to others on the road, and so is your panicked husband who will be speeding and looking anxiously at what’s happening with you instead of the road. Do NOT call your doctor–he doesn’t know where you live and if it’s at night you won’t reach him anyway, and if it’s daytime, his assistants (or answering service) will tell you to call the Paramedics. He doesn’t carry the equipment in his car that you need to be saved! The Paramedics do, principally OXYGEN that you need as soon as possible. Your doctor will be notified later.
♥
Don’t assume it couldn’t be a heart attack because you have a normal cholesterol count. Research has discovered that a cholesterol elevated reading is rarely the cause of an MI (unless it’s unbelievably high, and/or accompanied by high blood pressure.) MI’s are usually caused by long-term stress and inflammation in the body, which dumps all sorts of deadly hormones into your system to sludge things up in there. Pain in the jaw can wake you from a sound sleep. Let’s be careful and be aware. The more we know the better chance we have of survival.
Article contributed by Helen Lim
♥
Important Things to Note about Heart Attack Symptoms for Women:
.
Women account for nearly half of all heart attack deaths. Heart disease is the number one killer of both women and men.
Women are less likely to believe they are having a heart attack and therefore delay in getting treatment resulting in fatalities.
Women tend to be 10 years older than men when they have their heart attacks. They are likely to be suffering from diabetes and heart diseases.
One Month prior to having a heart attack, 95% of the women experienced new or different sensations like unusual fatigue (70.6-percent), sleep disturbance (47.8-percent), and shortness of breath (42.1-percent).
.
Less than 43% of women experience chest pains during heart attacks.
Symptoms such as indigestion, sleep disturbances, or weakness in the arms, which women may experience on a daily basis, were recognized as warning signals for Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) in the NIH study.
Women’s symptoms are not as predictable as that of men’s. If in doubt, go for a full medical examination including blood test to check for cholesterol levels etc.
.
The women’s major symptoms prior to their heart attack include:.
- Unusual fatigue - 70%
Sleep disturbance - 48%
Shortness of breath - 42%
Indigestion - 39%
Anxiety - 35%
.
Major symptoms during the heart attack include:
- Shortness of breath - 58%
Weakness - 55%
Unusual fatigue - 43%
Cold sweat - 39%
Dizziness, Nausea, or Light-headedness.- 39%
Pain or discomfort in the center of the chest - 38%
Pain or discomfort in other areas of the upper body, including the arms, back, neck, jaw, or stomach.
.
Related NIH research into heart attacks in women includes possible ethnic and racial differences.
.
_________________________________________________________________
♥
♥
Watch this YouTube Video: “KNOWING THE SIGNS OF A WOMAN’S HEART ATTACK IS CRUCIAL“:
♥
♥
Watch this YouTube Video by a Female Singer in a Rock Band called the Blizzard giving an entertaining rendition of “HEART ATTACK GRILL BURGER“:
♥
♥
If you thought “Heart Attack Burger” was a fictional fast food restaurant, Watch this YouTube Video on TV program “Heart Attack Grill”. The Concept is horrific but you can’t deny that they deliver what they promise “A Bite Worth Dying For“. Any takers?:
♥
♥
Medical Authorities say this Method of Preventing Heart Attacks When You’re Alone is a Hoax:
♥
♥
♥
♥
♥
.♥
.
.
.
