Yes, I see You’re a Woman

More than 70% of patients with unexplained symptoms are Women

“Vive la différence” say the French (“Long live the difference”) but then they do not mean that symptoms of heart failure differ in women and men.

“ a woman  is not a small man.”

Scientific research focuses mainly on men. As a result, there is a lack of knowledge of the symptoms and causes of heart failure in women.

Heart failure in women

what symptoms should women take into account?

Most people think of acute signals, such as chest pain and pain between the shoulder blades. In practice, however, it turns out that women can have completely different symptoms. The danger is that the signals are often so vague that the clinical picture is not recognized, or recognized too late by doctors and patients. Women are more often victims of cardiovascular diseases than men, but doctors look at the ‘male’ norm’ in evaluating symptoms. Especially because research into cardiovascular diseases is mainly conducted on men. As a result, women are treated too late or not at all.

menopause

There is another danger lurking. Heart complaints in women are very similar to complaints of the menopause. Moreover, heart failure usually occurs during or after menopause. It is therefore not surprising that women are sometimes wrongly diagnosed.

Hot flashes

One of the best-known symptoms of the menopause is hot flashes. However, hot flashes can also occur due to high blood pressure, which in turn can lead to cardiovascular diseases. Do the hot flashes last a long time? Is there a history of heart failure in the family?  Discuss these complaints with a doctor.

Nagging complaints

Where men suddenly have serious complaints, women ‘just’ feel unwell with heart complaints. They feel a bit nagging and tired. They suffer from palpitations, experience (extreme) fatigue, and sleep poorly. Because the signals are unclear, they do not seek help from a specialist. At the same time, it can be a sign that a heart attack is imminent.

Feeling restless and anxious

Men and women can also have the same complaints. Think of pain in the jaw, in the back, and between the shoulder blades or nausea and vomiting. Women can also suffer from pain in the upper abdomen and dizziness. In addition, they experience a restless and anxious feeling. Sometimes chest pain is completely absent in women, doctors confuse the complaints with the flu.

Silent heart attack

Women suffer from a silent heart attack more often than men. This means that they do not notice it themselves. They have virtually no complaints. The disease is then discovered by chance. ​​Yet women often seem to suffer from fatigue complaints. Therefore, contact your doctor if the fatigue persists for longer periods because the risks of doing nothing are far too great.

Arteriosclerosis

The arteries can become blocked in both men and women. women. We call this arteriosclerosis. In men, the narrowing of the blood vessels mainly occurs in one place. In women, however, the vessels become clogged evenly – over a longer length – and less quickly than in men. Because arteriosclerosis regularly occurs in small blood vessels, it can be more difficult for doctors to diagnose women correctly.

unhealthy lifestyle and stress are bad

for the hearts of men and women alike

Source: Heart for Women

Heart for Women was founded by Dr. Angela Maas, professor of cardiology for women at Radboud UMC Nijmegen, Netherlands. Since the beginning of 2014, the foundation has been committed to multidisciplinary research on cardiovascular disease in women. (read the whole story)

research heart for women

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