Preparing to Go Red for Women - Learning About Women and Heart Disease

If you follow medical news at all, then you know we hear on occasion that women and men suffer heart disease and heart attacks differently.

The classic MALE heart attack (also called myocardial infarction) is the one we are most familiar with. It may feel like bad heartburn, crushing pain in the man's chest. He may sweat or feel nauseaus, even vomit. He may have pain that extends from his chest, to his jaw, left arm or left shoulder, and he may be short of breath. (Information from FamilyDoctor.org.)

But a woman's heart attack, and a woman's heart disease, may present differently. And for many years, nobody ever addressed that. It's one more in a long list of misinformation that became accepted as truth because tests, trials, and the resulting recommendations were all based on studies of men. Therefore, anything that may have functioned differently in women just wasn't recognized. And considering that 8 million women suffer from heart disease, we have a long road to catch up in the information sharing. (Not unlike the former assumption that children are just small adults. More recent studies have shown that young bodies do not react the same way as older ones do.)

So here is what we now know differently about WOMEN's heart attacks: Women suffer discomfort, pressure or tightness in the chest that lasts more than a few minutes or comes and gos (not necessarily crushing pain at first), pressure or pain that spreads to ths shoulders, neck, upper back, jaw or arms, dizziness or nausea, clammy sweats, heart flutters, anxiety fatigue or weakness, stomach pain, shortness of breath....

Slighly different -- but just different enough that women who know the classic men's symptoms may not recognize they are having a heart attack.

Why do I bring all this up today? Because Friday, February 6 (2009) is National Go Red for Women Day -- the day for all of us -- women and the men and children who love them -- can spend some time learning more about heart disease in women, how to prevent it, and how to deal with it. And, importantly, to learn more about heart disease in all of us. And that's what empowered patients do -- they learn.

And why do I bring it up so early? Because you can order some very cool pins, ties, or necklaces to wear that day, too -- they help support the cause, and help others recognize the steps you are taking to learn.

So order one of these today! Or at least spend some time on these websites to learn more about heart disease in women -- so that you can be the person who shares the information with others on Friday, February 6:

• From the American Heart Association
• From the US National Institutes of Health
• From the National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease (WomenHeart)

Then, once you've ordered your Go Red trinkets, cruise on over to Dr. Rich's About.com Guide to Heart Disease in Women to learn more.