Heart attack warning signs in women

The cardiovascular diseases they are still the leading cause of death in womenbut for decades they have lived in a kind of background. Not because of lack of importance, but because of a mixture of ignorance, prejudices and lack of female perspective in medicine. This is what the cardiologist warns Antonia Samboladirector of the Women’s Cardiovascular Disease Unit at the Sagrada Familia Clinic in Barcelona and author of the book The heart of women.

In conversation with Europa Press Salud Infosalus, the specialist recalls that female heart health has traditionally been overshadowed by other areas such as gynecology or reproduction, when in reality it is the greatest life risk.

After menopause, a woman’s body enters a new stage. The drop in estrogen, which acts as natural protectors of the cardiovascular systemcauses an increased risk of heart attack and other heart diseases. Furthermore, in this phase they also increase the blood pressurethe blood lipids and the accumulation of abdominal fatall of them factors that play against the heart.

For this reason, Sambola insists that it is essential to specific cardiovascular checkup from this stage and throughout the rest of life. It is not about alarming, but about anticipate.

Symptoms that are not always “from the book”

One of the big problems is that the heart attack in women does not always present as expected. “The most common symptom is chest pain in both men and women; and the difference is that women more frequently present other symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and general malaise and, sometimes, the pain radiates to the neck,” explains the cardiologist.

This range of less typical signs often means that a heart problem is not initially thought of. Sambola regrets that there is still a tendency, learned during medical training, to early rule out heart attack in a woman. “A woman with chest pain should have an electrocardiogram and the usual tests. You should not always think first that you have anxiety or nervesbut every decision must be based on evidence,” he defends.

Although men and women share many risks, in the case of women there are some that have a special impact. The cardiologist highlights the diabeteshe smoking and the family history as warning signs that require extreme vigilance.

The formula for a woman to take care of her heart is not complicated, although it does require perseverance. Good nutrition, regular exercise, enough rest, stress control and not smoking they form the base. But Sambola adds a key pillar: periodic reviews. Taking your blood pressure once a year and having a lipid analysis done allows you to detect silent problems such as hypertension or high cholesterol in time.