Many studies of heart attacks show that a heart attack can be very different in women and can lead to errors in diagnosis. This can have even more important consequences for young women. A new study, published in the journal JAMA Network Open, listed risk factors that may increase the risk of heart attack in young people, especially women.
While some risk factors are common to both sexes, research shows that there are significant differences between men and women in terms of heart attack risk. Risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes and depression are more prominent in women.
Causes of heart attack
Heart attack causes are blockage or spasm of one of the arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle (coronary arteries). These and similar situations prevent the flow of oxygen to the heart area, causing the cells in that area to be damaged or die. This usually occurs due to narrowing caused by atherosclerosis. Damaged tissues end the contractility of that part of the heart muscle.
Among the risk factors are smoking, hypertension, hypotension, diabetes, high consumption of fatty foods, high cholesterol, obesity and genetic factors.
The risk increases in cases of coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease (occlusion of the vessels feeding the brain), peripheral vascular disease, angina, or renal failure requiring hemodialysis.
In some situations that trigger a heart attack, there can be an unexpected great tension. Straining during defecation is a risk factor in the elderly. Heart attack is the most common cause of sudden death in adults.
heart attack symptoms
The main symptom of a heart attack is chest pain. However, in more than one situation, chest pain is mild or absent, particularly in the elderly and diabetics. Other symptoms such as weakness, shortness of breath, nausea and vomiting may predominate.
In general, the symptoms of a heart attack are:
– Chest pain
– Back pain
– Stomach ache
– Pain in the chest, arms and shoulders
– Pain in the length, teeth and jaw
– Back pain
– Angina-like pain that does not stop with rest
– Prolonged pain in the chest, back or abdomen
– Excessive sweating
– dry mouth
– restlessness
– Spasms
– Weakness
– Sustained interruption of respiration
– Difficulty breathing, needing to lie down
– Sudden changes in blood pressure (low, high, normal)
Early signs of heart attack in women
The new study found that many of the identified risk factors are potentially modifiable, accounting for about 80 percent of heart attack events in young women and about 85 percent of heart attack events in young men.
A total of 7 symptoms were observed that increase the risk of heart attack in young women more than men:
– Diabetes
– depression
– hypertension
– To smoke
– Family history of heart attack
– Low socioeconomic level
– high cholesterol
Diabetes stood out as the risk factor most associated with heart attack in women, followed by smoking, depression and hypertension. In men, smoking and family history of heart attack were recorded as the main risk factors.
In the study, it was also determined that young women were 2 times more likely to die from a heart attack compared to men of the same age.