How is heart disease different in women than in men?
The biggest difference is the symptoms, especially of heart attacks. The things that we classically describe to patients — chest discomfort like an elephant sitting on the chest, radiation to the jaw and down the arm — aren’t quite the symptoms women feel. We still don’t know how to describe the classic symptoms women feel. I’ve had women who were having a massive heart attack and they just felt as if all they needed to do was burp and it would get better. It fools everyone. My recommendation to women is if you’re feeling bad enough to think that something’s wrong and it’s persistent and it continues to make you feel worse — women still feel some kind of chest discomfort and some type of shortness of breath — you should go to the emergency room. Q: What is the most important thing women can do to protect their hearts? A: The most important thing is exercise. Exercise can decrease your risk for breast cancer, treat depression, prevent heart attacks and strokes, control blood pressur
