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Twice as Likely: Women's Heart Attack Symptoms Mistaken for Stress
10 Aug
Summary
- Women are twice as likely as men to be misdiagnosed with mental illness instead of heart attack.
- Unique symptoms like jaw pain and fatigue are often dismissed as stress.
- Younger women and those with non-chest pain symptoms face higher dismissal rates.
Women experiencing heart attacks are significantly more likely to be misdiagnosed with mental health conditions than men. Research indicates women are twice as likely to receive a mental illness diagnosis when presenting with symptoms identical to men experiencing cardiac events. This diagnostic disparity often arises because women's heart attack symptoms can differ from the classic presentation, leading doctors to overlook cardiac causes.
Common symptoms in women that can be mistaken for stress include indigestion, shortness of breath, palpitations, and pain radiating to the jaw, neck, or arms, often alongside chest pain. Crushing fatigue, which can appear weeks before a cardiac event, is another symptom frequently dismissed. Indigestion can occur as nerve pathways misfire due to reduced blood flow to the heart.
Younger women are particularly vulnerable to having their symptoms dismissed as unrelated to the heart. Age does not necessarily protect them from being taken less seriously. It is vital to trust changes in one's baseline health, such as new chest discomfort, unusual breathlessness, or persistent fatigue, and to seek immediate emergency medical attention for these signs.
