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If I can reach one woman with this article and save her life, then I have accomplished my goal. All women need to understand that the signs of a heart attack for a female can be very different than what a typical male having a heart attack experiences. It is important to recognize that not all heart attacks come on suddenly, often a heart attack can start out slowly with mild pain symptoms. Many women experience symptoms that are not chest pain related. A woman may complain of shortness of breath, nausea and vomiting and back and jaw pain. Many complain of an unusual fatigue.

A few years ago when a female walked in the ER with complaints of pain, they were often given some pills to treat the pain and sent home. Many of these women were actually in the midst of having a heart attack, but their pain was dismissed as nothing. Some of these women died, but now it is a brand new day when it comes to treating the female patient.

The attitude towards females and heart disease has significantly improved over the last few years. When a woman comes to the ER with complaints of pain or not feeling well, tests are done to rule out any heart problems. There is now an awareness that women who are having a heart attack may have different symptoms. Men will often come to the ER complaining of stabbing chest pain, appear anxious and thrashing all over the cart and be in a cold sweat. Females may simply state that they just do not feel well or complain of back or shoulder pain. Now because of the increased awareness by physicians about women and heart disease, woman are not being sent home without being assessed for heart disease.

Females experiencing a heart attack are often aware that something is not right and often they choose to stay home thinking they will feel better in a little while. They are not aware they are having a heart attack. Many times they feel like they have a little indigestion and may take some maalox and lay down. These are the women that sometimes die because they did not seek medical help. The best advice to all females after years of working in the ER as an RN, is that if you feel something is not right and are having a lot of little symptoms like shoulder pain, jaw pain or back pain and fatigue then seek medical attention. It is better to be safe than take the risk of ignoring your symptoms.

If you believe that heart disaese only affects men, you are gravely mistaken. Heart disease is the number one killer of women in the United States. More women are

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