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Heart disease symptoms different for women

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Heart disease symptoms different for women

By ELLEN TANDY 2theadvocate.com Staff Published: Mar 20, 2006

From a report by News 2's Sylvia Weatherspoon

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Heart disease is known to kill more women than men, and the problem seems to be not recognizing the symptoms early enough. It may feel like indigestion or extreme fatigue, but any women experiencing these symptoms may reduce their risk for heart disease by getting it checked out.

For Debra Jones, it happened one morning last June, just after she woke up.

"I noticed I was about to fall," Jones said. "My legs had given way. I caught myself because I was standing by my bed."

As it turned out, Jones was having a heart attack. She said she had none of the the traditional symptoms, except the burning sensation, so she thought it was just indigestion.

Jones said her initial test results at the emergency room came back normal, which a cardiologist will explain as a "false negative."

"Which means the tests look fine, but they continue to have symptoms," explained Baton Rouge Cardiologist, Dr. Charles Thompson. "When they do get an angiogram, wow, there (are) blockages."

New evidence confirms what has long been suspected, that heart disease develops differently in women than in men. For example, women often develop blockages in the smallest vessels supplying the heart with blood. Researchers say that's why the traditional tests designed to spot heart problems do not work as well for women as for men.

"All the standards we use right now, the stress tests were developed using only male subjects, because when they were developed, women didn't get heart disease," Thompson said. "So (women) were felt not needed to be involved in the development criteria."

Thompson believes new imaging techniques may help diagnose heart disease in the future. As for Jones, she is doing well after undergoing heart surgery and she hopes her story will help increase awareness about women and heart disease -- and maybe save lives.