Health

Dr. Cunningham: Fatigue in women may be a subtle symptom of heart attack

tired woman at work
One of the non-obvious symptoms of a heart attack in women may be fatigue or weakness. This was reported by British general practitioner Lawrence Cunningham.

Doctor Cunningham noted in a commentary to the Express publication that heart attacks that affect men and women often differ in their symptoms. In particular, women are much more likely to experience non-trivial, non-obvious signs of heart attacks. In medical practice, in connection with this, there is a problem of untimely, too late diagnosis of myocardial infarction in the fairer sex.

Speaking about this, Dr. Cunningham noted that fatigue may be an inconspicuous symptom of a heart attack in women – the “classic” chest pain or pressure during a heart attack is much more often experienced by men.

“Sudden and severe chest pain was named the main symptom of a heart attack based only on a study of male patients. Women often experience other symptoms: for example, fatigue or shortness of breath. They can easily be mistaken for manifestations of other diseases,” the expert warned.
The doctor added that in cases where women complain of discomfort during a heart attack, they talk about pain that occurs not in the chest area, but in other places – for example, in the neck, shoulder, jaw or back. Women also often experience symptoms typical of food poisoning – nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain.

Another feature of female heart attacks is that they are much more often (compared to male ones) painless. With such “silent” heart attacks, they experience dizziness, pallor, general malaise, sweating, increased anxiety – all this also prevents the correct identification of a heart attack.

Earlier, the MedikForum.ru portal wrote that a non-obvious sign of heart problems can be pallor that occurs after physical exertion.

Important! Information is provided for reference purposes. Ask a specialist about contraindications and side effects and do not self-medicate under any circumstances. At the first signs of illness, consult a doctor.