 | Joseph P. Galichia, MD is the founder and Medical Director of the Galichia Medical Group, PA. He is an internationally recognized pioneer in the field of interventional cardiology. In the 70's, Dr. Galichia studied in Zurich, Switzerland with the inventors of the balloon angioplasty technique for treating heart disease. As a result of his experience, he was able to bring this historic technique back to the United States where he was one of the first physicians to perform coronary angioplasty here. A noted medical spokesman, he appears on a weekly Newstalk segment on KWCH Channel 12 and has a weekly syndicated radio talk show on KNSS 1330 AM every Saturday live from 11:00 am to noon. Dr. Galichia may be contacted by sending an e-mail to service@galichia.com |
Health & Medicine
2007-09-01 09:59:00
Symptoms of a heart attack
Answer: It is true that men and women may present differently with symptoms of coronary heart disease. Men tend to have more “classic symptoms” including chest pains in the center of the chest radiating into the left arm and occurring with exertion and relieved with rest and nitroglycerin. This classic symptom of angina pectoris is definitely more common in men then women. Women may be short of breath, and have fatigue or other softer symptoms, which are often missed. At the time of a heart attack, however, men are more likely as well to have a “Hollywood heart attack” with severe crushing chest pain, drenching sweat, a feeling of impending doom, nausea, and extreme weakness. This pain is usually oppressive and it has a dramatic impact on the patient.
Certainly, this is not always the case, but is much more likely to be a presentation in men than in women. Women often have more subtle symptoms. When a heart attack occurs in women, they may have symptoms of shortness of breath or extreme fatigue or chest pain that is less dramatic, often consisting of heart burn or a feeling of fullness, or shortness of breath. These symptoms are often overlooked and may be attributed to “stress” or quite often gastrointralogic complaints. Women with coronary heart disease, in the absence of heart attack, may have extreme fatigue, shortness of breath, or chest pain that is not well located in the center of the chest. These symptoms are easily overlooked both by the patient and their physician unless there is a high level of alertness to the possibility of coronary heart disease. Despite the differences in presentation of symptoms that have been described, I find in my own practice that the difference between men and women, relative to these symptoms, is much less than has been described. In fact, I often find that men have very subtle symptoms, including fatigue and shortness of breath, and that women very often have the same symptoms, including chest pain. In all of my patients I must consider the possibility of coronary disease presenting in a “less than classical way”. By having my antenna stretched to the fullest when evaluating these patients, I have a much better chance of making the correct diagnosis. Remember this description of Cardiac Chest Pain.
SAVES:
S Sudden onset
A Anterior in location
V Vague description
E Exertion makes it occur
S Suddenly goes away with rest and nitroglycerin
