Heart disease has been commonly known as a “man’s disease,” but statistics have shown that about the same number of women die from heart disease in the U.S. each year, according to the Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In the last 10 years, there has been an effort to increase women’s awareness of their risk of heart disease. Even with that increase, only about half of women know the heart disease is their No. 1 killer, according to the CDC.
Women’s symptoms of heart disease and heart attack are not always the same and not always as easy to recognize as men’s symptoms, according to the CDC. That is why a huge part of increasing women’s awareness is teaching the symptoms specific to them.
Some heart disease symptoms in women, according to the CDC, include:
- Back pain
- Burning in the chest
- Chest pain or discomfort – could be dull, heavy or sharp
- Pain in the neck, jaw or throat
- Pain in the upper abdomen
Sometimes, heart disease has no symptoms in women. It can be described as silent, and sometimes isn’t diagnosed until a woman has an abnormal heart rhythm, heart attack, heart failure or stroke, according to the CDC.