Johns Hopkins Health Alert
Chronic Chest Pain a Potential Red Flag for Women
Contrary to typical portrayals in movies and on TV, heart attacks don’t always have a sudden, intense onset. A study finds that for women, chronic chest pain may signal a future heart problem.
Although no one likes to think about having a heart attack, would you know what to do if you were? Even if you know what to do, would you follow through? More important, would you act quickly?
According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute close to one million people in the United States have heart attacks each year, and about one fifth of them die. Half of the deaths occur in the first hour after heart attack symptoms start and before the person reaches a hospital. These numbers underscore the importance of recognizing heart attack symptoms quickly and responding to these symptoms just as quickly.
Now a study in the European Heart Journal (Volume 27, page 1408) reports that for women, persistent chest pain may be a warning of future heart problems – even when a woman has no evidence of blockages in her coronary arteries.
The findings come from a study known as WISE, a government-funded project designed to evaluate chest pain in women -- a task that is less straightforward than in men. The central issue is that women are much more likely than men to suffer long-term chest pain in the absence of any large artery blockages. But that doesn’t mean their chest pain is innocuous.
Among women in the study with no signs of clogged arteries, those with persistent chest pain for at least a year were more than twice as likely to suffer a heart attack, stroke, or other cardiovascular complication over the next five years. The study included 673 women whose chest pain and other potential symptoms of coronary heart disease were evaluated by angiography (an x-ray examination of blood vessels that can detect blockages).
The take-home message: If you’re a woman, you should not simply live with chronic chest pain if angiography fails to detect artery blockages. Instead, you should ask your doctor about the ways you can reduce any heart risk factors you have. A healthy diet and regular physical activity are some of the most important ways.
Posted in Heart Health on September 14, 2007
Reviewed September 2011
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A heart attack occurs when one of the heart's coronary arteries is blocked suddenly, usually by a tiny blood clot (thrombus). The blood clot typically forms inside a coronary artery that already has been narrowed by atherosclerosis, a condition in which fatty deposits (plaques) build up along the inside walls of blood vessels. A heart attack also is called a myocardial infarction or coronary thrombosis. Each coronary artery supplies blood to a specific part of the heart's muscular wall, so a blocked artery causes pain and malfunction in the area it supplies. Depending on the location and amount of heart muscle involved, this malfunction can seriously interfere with the heart's ability to pump blood. Also, some of the coronary arteries supply areas of the heart that regulate heartbeat, so a blockage sometimes causes potentially fatal abnormal heartbeats, called cardiac arrhythmias. The pattern of symptoms that develops with each heart attack and the chances of survival are linked to the location and extent of the coronary artery blockage. http://www.insideheart.com/heart-attacks-in-women.html
Posted by: syra | October 28, 2010 2:46 AM
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Men's experiences can be quite different. Most men experience severe chest pain that radiates through their arms, and, frequently, in their jaws. Men are much more likely to experience the classic "TV heart attack," where they grab their chests in agony. This is accompanied by shortness of breath, sudden weakness and trembling hands, blurred vision, fatigue, a cold sweat, and dizziness. All of these symptoms together are serious. http://www.insideheart.com/heart-attacks-in-women.html
Posted by: syra | October 28, 2010 2:45 AM