Heart Attack Symptoms: Is it same for men and women?

Women and men may come from Venus and Mars, but Heart Month should remind us all that we have more in common sometimes than we might think - particularly where our hearts are concerned. Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in women and men worldwide.

The statistics are eye-opening – one in three women will develop cardiovascular disease, and 1 in 17 women in the U.S. will have a heart attack or hospitalization for heart disease before age 60. For men, the numbers are similarly sobering – more than one in three adult males have some form of heart disease.

We are used to thinking about the telltale signs of heart attacks based upon many years of research and clinical observation of what men have experienced – chest discomfort, arm and back pain, and shortness of breath top the list. But more recently, doctors and their patients are recognizing that women may experience heart attacks differently.

Women may certainly experience chest pain, but they should also be on the lookout for less obvious symptoms, like nausea, indigestion, and palpitations in addition to shortness of breath and back pain,. In fact, nearly half of the women in one study had no chest pain at all during their heart attack. Fatigue and shortness of breath were the most common symptoms.

Whereas chest pain, shortness of breath, and fatigue are the most typical symptoms for men, these heart attack warning signs for women should be considered carefully.


Major symptoms prior to heart attack Major symptoms during the heart attack
•Unusual fatigue •Shortness of breath
•Difficulty sleeping •Weakness
•Shortness of breath •Unusual fatigue
•Indigestion •Cold sweat
•Anxiety •Dizziness

Cardiologists have a saying: "Time is muscle." The sooner that we identify a heart attack, the quicker we can treat it, preserve heart function, and increase the likelihood of a healthy recovery. But the clock starts ticking with you. If you notice symptoms that are new, increasing in frequency, getting worse, or occurring when you are at rest, seek medical attention and remind your health care provider that statistics unfortunately don’t lie.