Women and Heart Disease

Signs and Symptoms

The rate of heart disease increases two to three times after menopause, the time of life when a woman's menstrual periods stop. This increase is not completely understood, but cholesterol, high blood pressure, and fat around the abdomen—all risk factors for heart disease—also increase around this time.

In the past, medical research on heart disease was primarily focused on men. Now, researchers recognize that there are significant differences in heart disease in women and men. For example, men usually have typical heart attack symptoms: chest pain that grips the chest and spreads to the shoulders, neck, and arms. Although women can have these symptoms, too, many women have less common symptoms such as breathlessness, heartburn, nausea or fatigue. Heart attacks in women are often brought on by anxiety or mental stress or even sleep, while heart attacks in men more often come on with exercise or exertion.

Because women do not always have the classic heart attack symptoms or typical onset of heart attacks, they may delay seeking care or, when they do seek care, may not be treated as aggressively as men.