In heart attack, symptoms often different for women

The symptoms of coronary disease and of heart attack can be very different in women than in men.

“Many people believe that a heart attack always or usually feels like a crushing pain in the chest,” said Marin General Hospital cardiologist Margaret Baer, MD, who practices at Cardiology Associates of Marin and San Francisco, in Larkspur.

“While that is sometimes the case in women and often the case in men, women’s symptoms can be very different.

They may involve feelings as vague as a pain in the stomach, nausea, dizziness or unexplained anxiety.”

Dr. Baer said these symptoms may indicate heart disease or a heart attack:

Signs more common in women:

• Stomach or abdominal pain or unusual chest pain.


• Nausea, dizziness or a feeling of heartburn (acid indigestion).


• Shortness of breath and difficulty breathing.


• Unexplained anxiety, weakness or fatigue.


• Palpitations, cold sweat or paleness.

Signs in both women and men:

• Uncomfortable pressure, fullness, squeezing or pain in center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes or goes away and comes back.


• Pain that spreads to shoulders, neck or arms.


• Chest discomfort with lightheadedness, fainting, sweating, nausea or shortness of breath.