Did you know that women have different heart attack symptoms than men?
Did you know that the number one cause of death of women is heart disease?
Did you know that more women die of heart attacks than men because of our lack of research within female heart attack symptoms and studies actually done on female participants?
Now that you know, how irritated are you?
When I first learned these facts in my Women's Health Communication course last semester, I was not only infuriated but I was shocked. How could our society be so far behind that we do not have current research on female participants? It is 2019 and we have cars that can drive themselves but not this simple research?
We also talk about breast cancer all the time. How often do you hear about the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure and see the pink ribbons for breast cancer? How often do you see information about heart disease? It is crazy that because some diseases are more marketable that we do not hear as much about the ones that matter. Heart disease kills x6 more women than breast cancer.
Women are more likely to have heart attack symptoms that are unrelated to the common symptom of chest pain. The most common female symptoms include:
-Neck, jaw, shoulder, upper back or abdominal discomfort,
-Pain in one or both arms
-Nausea or vomiting
-Shortness of breath
-Inability to sleep
-Paleness or clammy skin
-Cold sweating
-Lightheadedness or dizziness
-Unusual fatigue
-Fainting
Heart attacks can also occur from pregnancy and menopause, all things men have 0 experience with.
Women are also socially constructed to downplay their symptoms and to not complain. Therefore, they wait too long to see a doctor and die before they can do so. A lot of doctors do not take females seriously. This is for a plethora of reasons. Some doctors truly believe if something does not look physically wrong with you, then nothing is internally wrong. If a patient has makeup on and does not look physically ill, they do not take a deeper look into the patient's issues. Also, doctors like to blame most of women concerns on their emotional or mental status and even tell women that the pain they are experiencing is all in their head.
This needs to end. We need to advocate for more research and we need to let women know it is okay to be in pain and okay to voice concerns. It is not complaining if it will save your life. Women, I know it is hard to balance the everyday stresses and tasks, but put health at the top of the list. We have so much more to accomplish in this world, and if you feel off, tell someone right away. Do not brush off symptoms and act tough in this situation. Be smarter than that and bring an advocate to help you voice your concerns at the doctor as well. Trust yourself because you know your body better than anyone else does. Women have to fight everyday to achieve what we want. We may have to work 10 times harder than men, but thats what makes us warriors in the end. Fight for your goals and dreams but most importantly, fight for your life.
-Marisa Ward
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