Symptoms of a heart attack in women. What to do with a heart attack?

A heart attack is one of the common causes of sudden death. No one is safe from him. Especially those people who have crossed a certain age limit. But, unfortunately, heart attacks are increasingly observed at a fairly young age. In this case, the symptoms of a heart attack in women are somewhat different from the signs of pathology in men. They are more blurred and not expressed. And this leads to the fact that mortality rates in women from heart attacks are steadily increasing.

How to correctly recognize the first signs, symptoms of a heart attack? And what to do in this situation? How to help yourself or a loved one?

What is a heart attack?

Pathology often leads to death. But doctors say that if first aid is provided in a timely manner and a team of doctors is called, the patient can be saved. Most often, a fatal outcome is likely if urgent medical measures have not been taken. In this case, death occurs as a result of extensive damage to the heart and the resulting complications.

What happens in the body with this pathology? Symptoms of a heart attack in women appear if one of the arteries that feed the myocardium ceases to function fully. It does not deliver full blood to the main organ. This leads to damage to part of the heart muscle. Tissues begin to die. The patient urgently needs qualified help. Otherwise, it will be fatal.

How can a heart attack be triggered? Symptoms in women occur against a background of impaired blood flow to the vessels. Pathology can manifest as a result of a sudden spasm. Often an attack is provoked by an unexpected blockage of the vessel with cholesterol or a blood clot. Regardless of the factor that caused the pathology, there is only one reason for the death of heart tissue - a lack of oxygen.

Infarct factors

Quite a lot of reasons can trigger a heart attack. Symptoms in women in most cases are similar regardless of the source of the development of pathology.

The main triggering factors include:

• age (after 55 years, a woman enters the risk zone);
• hereditary factor;
• previous surgery to remove the ovaries;
• period after menopause.

Additional sources of pathology

However, there are other causes of a heart attack that can be eliminated or negated by their negative effects on the body.

These factors are:

1. Smoking, addiction to alcohol, drug addiction. These factors are in first place. Smokers are almost always diagnosed with heart disease. Alcohol intoxication worsens the situation several times. Often an acute attack occurs in a state of deep hangover.
2. Taking birth control pills. Sometimes this factor leads to the appearance of pathology in women who have not even reached 40 years old.
3. High cholesterol. Vessels clogged with plaques experience severe congestion. Of course, the heart does not receive enough blood. He has to function in enhanced mode.
4. Obesity. The organs that swam with fat do not leave the myocardium able to work at full strength. This is a fairly common cause leading to cardiological disorders.
5. Inactivity. Typically, this factor is combined with obesity or being overweight.
6. Hypertension. High pressure overloads the heart muscle and blood vessels.
7. Diabetes. This is a pathology that provokes many different disorders in the body. The cardiovascular system suffers from ailment.
8. Inflammatory processes in the vessels. They provoke rupture of the coronary artery. Inflammation causes an increase in the body's reactive protein. This pattern is most often observed in women. And what caused the increase in protein, doctors are not yet ready to say.
9. Hypothyroidism The disease often becomes a source of heart disease. It can provoke an attack.
10. Chronic stress This condition is the cause of the development of most diseases in the body. And first of all, stress negatively affects the work of the heart.

Classic signs

Let's look at what symptoms of a heart attack are most often observed?

Pathology is characterized by the following main signs:

1. There is pain in the chest area. This is the most characteristic symptom of an impending heart attack. But pain is not always. Some people feel discomfort, tightness, a certain pressure in the chest. In this case, pain is completely absent. Patients say that it becomes difficult for them to breathe, a feeling “as if someone has stepped on the chest.” Very often, people believe that a heart attack causes pain only in the sternum and unpleasant discomfort in the left hand. You should know that negative sensations can appear in any other parts of the body: in the shoulders, in the throat, in the upper part of the peritoneum, in the jaws, teeth, back.
2. Heavy sweating, perspiration. Pay attention when such a symptom appears. Of particular concern is increased sweating in a person who is in a cool room, and not in the heat. Evaporation, which appeared in the absence of physical activity, can indicate problems. Severe sweating causes clogging of the arteries. The heart needs to make more efforts to pump blood in a sufficient amount. To maintain a normal temperature with an additional load, the body releases a large amount of sweat. If you encounter such a problem, be sure to consult a doctor.
3. Dyspnea. If such attacks occur after a small load (climbing a couple of floors, walking), you should consult a doctor. Very often shortness of breath is a symptom of heart disease. Especially if it is accompanied by severe fatigue and chest pain. Women are more likely to experience similar symptoms. It is shortness of breath and fatigue that usually warn of an upcoming heart attack.

Additional symptoms

In a classic attack, there are often:

1. Gastrointestinal problems. Very often before an attack, disorders in the digestive tract appear. Indigestion, heartburn, and nausea may occur. These symptoms are often combined with dizziness. However, do not forget that such symptoms can be inherent in a number of pathologies.
2. Numbness in the fingers. Can only cover brushes. But sometimes numbness spreads to the shoulders and forearms.
3. Disturbed speech. A completely sober person begins to weave his tongue. Speech becomes slurred and incomprehensible.
4. Violation of motor coordination. Man loses control of the body. Most often this applies to the neck, shoulders, arms. This condition is very similar to alcohol intoxication. Especially if it is combined with slurred speech. That is why others do not always rush to help a person who is in such a state. This is very dangerous, because precious minutes are lost.

If you pay attention to the main symptoms of a heart attack listed above, you can manage to save a person’s life. Therefore, do not pass by the person who needs your help.

Features of seizures in women

Most often, people present a heart attack as a sudden, pronounced attack. If pathology concerns representatives of the beautiful half of humanity, then the situation is somewhat different. Symptoms of a heart attack in women are rarely pronounced. Most patients tolerate them, completely not giving them value.

This is dictated by the fact that the symptoms of the disease in most cases are blurred. Therefore, women do not notice them and do not take them seriously. In addition, the symptoms are slightly different from the signs that characterize an attack in men.

Alarms

Pay attention to the first symptoms of a heart attack in women:

1. Extreme fatigue, almost unsettling.
2. Disturbed sleep, insomnia. This condition can be observed even after severe fatigue. These symptoms appear about a month before the attack.
3. Increased anxiety, overheating, feeling of stress.
4. Digestion, the appearance of nausea during normal nutrition.
5. Weakness, clammy, sweaty skin.
6. Difficulty breathing during normal exercise or climbing stairs.
7. The appearance of pain in the neck, face, jaw, ears. Discomfort can spread to the arms, shoulders. It resembles a condition with stretching of muscle tissue.

How to help yourself?

If you observe the symptoms of a heart attack in women described above, do not expect the condition to worsen. The most correct decision is to consult a doctor and get qualified help.

Remember that the doctor must be informed about all the symptoms that appear. In addition, it is important to name factors that can aggravate the condition (genetic predisposition, smoking, hypertension).

If you have an attack

What to do if you took a heart attack by surprise? Symptoms, first aid are moments that every person should know well. After all, the score goes on for minutes.

First aid consists of the following activities:

1. Call the ambulance right away. Even if you do not know how to help yourself, the dispatcher will explain to you what to do before the doctors arrive.
2. Contact relatives who are able to come to you immediately if the attack begins at the moment when you are alone.
3. Take a tablet of aspirin (325 mg). The pill should be chewed so that it has an effect faster.
4. Take a nitroglycerin tablet. If a positive effect is not observed, you can use the medicine again. The third pill is allowed to drink only if the pain does not subside within 10 minutes after taking the second pill.
5. Try to keep calm. Panic and fear, characteristic of an attack, complicate the condition. Remember that help is already rushing to you. You can focus on the heartbeat count. It is calming.
6. Stay supine, on your back. In this case, it is desirable to raise the legs higher by placing a pillow or other object under them. This will allow the diaphragm to open, and oxygen will better enter the bloodstream.
7. Take deep breaths and even exhalations.
8. If possible, it is recommended that you open a window to allow access to fresh air.

What can not be done

If symptoms of a heart attack in women are observed, it is not enough to know how to act in such a situation. It should be remembered that it is strictly contraindicated:

• get up or move around;
• to smoke;
• drive a car;
• consume aspirin if there is intolerance to the drug or an exacerbation of gastritis, ulcers is diagnosed;
• take nitroglycerin in case of low pressure, severe headache, with impaired speech, coordination, vision;
• consume drinks or food.

Help a loved one

What to do if something is wrong with a person in front of your eyes and you suspect a heart attack?

Symptoms in women, treatment is often not taken seriously by such persons. Therefore, be prepared for the fact that they will begin to refuse to call a doctor and protest against the need to take a horizontal position.

Your actions should be as quick and clear as possible:

1. Call an ambulance.
2. Lay the patient on a horizontal surface with any object under his feet. Make sure that the patient does not rise.
3. Open the collar, belt.
4. Provide fresh air by opening the window. Turn on the fan.
5. Try to calm and reassure the victim.

Be sure to do all the activities described above. And remember that the future life of this person depends on your actions.