It’s official – Men and Women are Different!!

You may have heard on the BBC news this week that new statistics have been published in an American study highlighting that heart attack symptoms ‘differ in women’.

We have known for years that equal numbers of men and women have heart attacks, but more women die as a result.

In a study of hospital admissions for heart attacks, none of the classic chest pains were present in 42% of the women and 30% of the men. The death rates were higher for women at 14.6% and 10.3% for men.

Just to remind you - the usual symptoms of a heart attack are:

§         Tightness or pressure in the chest

§         Pain in the chest area which can radiate out to either arm, neck, jaw, back or shoulders.

§         The attack usually lasts longer than 30 minutes

§         Skin takes on a grey colour and may sweat profusely

§         The pulse will be variable, often irregular and missing beats

§         Shortness of breath dizziness, nausea, vomiting

§         Usual medication GTN may give no relief.

The study shows that although women under the age of 55 do not have heart attacks very often, when they do, they very often will not present the symptoms as in the text books. Women may only suffer from mild chest pain or heaviness which can be overlooked by inexperienced first aiders and consequently they are more likely to die.

First-Aiders need to remain vigilant and open minded about diagnosing a suspected heart attack and phone 999 if they are in any doubt.

If you have any questions about the contents of this e-mail then please do not hesitate to contact me.