The most common signs of heart trouble are easy enough to find online or in the popular press. But women should realize that these symptoms do not always apply to them as well as they do to men. Women may experience certain symptoms more often than men do. It is important for women to understand how heart trouble, such as a heart attack, may manifest for them; heart disease is the leading cause of death in women, according to the American Heart Association.
Fatigue
In a study reported in the medical journal Circulation, researchers, including cardiologist Nieca Goldberg of Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, found that 71 percent of female heart attack patients studied experienced unusual fatigue within the previous month. About 42 percent described the fatigue as "severe." As the most common symptom preceding a heart attack for the 515 women in the study, fatigue stood in sharp contrast to the chest pain that is considered the most common heart attack symptom in men. Fewer than 30 percent of the women said they had felt chest discomfort.
Insomnia
Sleep disturbances had affected 48 percent of the women in the research. Among them, about 42 percent described the problem as severe. Why women would have such vague symptoms is not clear, but researcher Jean McSweeney, a professor in the College of Nursing at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, told HealthDayNews: "It may be that there are some vascular arterial spasms but we just don't know." Among other nonspecific signs that are common in women are anxiety and indigestion.
Shortness of Breath
Shortness of breath was a symptom for 42 percent of the women. It is also, according to the American Heart Association, one of the most common signs of heart trouble in men, though the organization agrees that it is more common among women. Among people who have never been aware that they have heart disease, shortness of breath is an especially reliable of heart attack, according to HeartHealthyWomen.org.
