HOUSTON — This Heart Health Month, we want to make sure you know the symptoms of a heart attack, and not just the common ones.
UT Health Houston and Memorial Hermann interventional cardiologist Dr. Brittany Owen said there are different signs of a heart attack in men and women.
Owen said men usually show traditional heart attack red flags, like radiating chest pain to their neck, back and shoulder or a squeezing, crushing chest pain sensation.
For women, the signs can be a little different, like nausea, vomiting and feeling like you're having reflux or indigestion. Owen said these signs are important to pay attention to and not ignore.
"If you're someone who has a long history of reflux and you've been taking pills for reflux for a long time and it feels like your normal reflux, it's probably a knock-on effects. But, if you're not someone who has had that, or if it's an extreme version of that where your stomach is just really upset and you don't know why, that I would, I would take heed, especially if you have risk factors," Owen said.
Women can also show unusual cases of dizziness and fatigue when having a heart attack. Owen said more women need to get screened more and better take care of their body to prevent heart problems.
"Heart disease in women is very underappreciated. We often focus a lot about women's health in regards to diseases that are unique to women," she said. "But what's actually true is the thing that kills the most women each year in the United States is heart disease."
The American Heart Association said risk factors for women getting heart attacks include smoking, having high blood pressure and cholesterol, high blood sugar or if you're obese.