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CNN Live At Daybreak

Women and Heart Attacks

Aired November 04, 2003 - 06:52   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Health news for you right now. Women and heart attacks and how to spot the early warning signs. There's a symptom that could surprise you. It's a fairly common symptom, fatigue.
Dr. Sandy Fryhofer is here to explain more.

DR. SANDRA FRYHOFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you may think what happened to chest pain?

COSTELLO: Yes.

FRYHOFER: Well, chest pain is still the most classic symptom of a heart attack. It's left-sided chest pain radiating into the neck or down the left arm, along with some indigestion and shortness of breath. But these symptoms occur more frequently in men and we're talking about women.

A new study in the journal "Circulation," which is the journal of the American Heart Association, looked at more than 500 women with heart attacks and found that 95 percent of these women had warning symptoms for more than a month before their heart attack but it wasn't chest pain. The most common warning signs were unusual fatigue and sleep problems -- shortness of breath, indigestion and anxiety were also symptoms. Thirty percent of the women did complain of chest discomfort before their heart attacks, but it wasn't chest pain per se. Instead, it was sort 0f an aching tightness or pressure.

Now, in this study, 43 percent of the women had no chest discomfort at all during their heart attack. The women were more likely to complain of shortness of breath, weakness and fatigue during their heart attack, as well.

So the message here, women don't always have chest pain during a heart attack. Also, when they have chest discomfort, it's mainly in the back and high chest, not necessarily on the left side. And heart attacks in women are often missed. And this lack of chest discomfort may explain why women have more unrecognized heart attacks than men. They may go to the emergency room, but then they're sent home.

COSTELLO: I'm getting really paranoid. I have all those symptoms.

FRYHOFER: Well, I know you have sleep problems, but working this shift, what can we say? We can explain that.

COSTELLO: Yes, but how can... FRYHOFER: We can explain that.

COSTELLO: How can you tell? I mean sometimes you do have shortness of breath because you're suffering extreme stress or anxiety. How do you -- how can you tell the difference and what age bracket are we talking about?

FRYHOFER: Well, you know, if you have this unexplained fatigue, you need to talk to your doctor and get it checked out. Fatigue can also be caused by thyroid problems, liver problems, anemia, even depression or working the night shift, in your case, Carol. But don't ignore it, especially if you have heart disease risk factors like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes or if you're overweight or have a family history of heart disease.

The message here is find out what's going on. And remember, heart disease is not just a man's disease. More women die than men each year of heart disease. And unexplained fatigue may be a woman's only warning. So get it checked out.

COSTELLO: OK. I feel a little better because I can't explain my fatigue.

FRYHOFER: You don't feel as tired now.

COSTELLO: No. I feel very peppy. I'll drink some more coffee.

Thank you.

We appreciate it.

Expert advice this morning and we do appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired November 4, 2003 - 06:52   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Health news for you right now. Women and heart attacks and how to spot the early warning signs. There's a symptom that could surprise you. It's a fairly common symptom, fatigue.
Dr. Sandy Fryhofer is here to explain more.

DR. SANDRA FRYHOFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you may think what happened to chest pain?

COSTELLO: Yes.

FRYHOFER: Well, chest pain is still the most classic symptom of a heart attack. It's left-sided chest pain radiating into the neck or down the left arm, along with some indigestion and shortness of breath. But these symptoms occur more frequently in men and we're talking about women.

A new study in the journal "Circulation," which is the journal of the American Heart Association, looked at more than 500 women with heart attacks and found that 95 percent of these women had warning symptoms for more than a month before their heart attack but it wasn't chest pain. The most common warning signs were unusual fatigue and sleep problems -- shortness of breath, indigestion and anxiety were also symptoms. Thirty percent of the women did complain of chest discomfort before their heart attacks, but it wasn't chest pain per se. Instead, it was sort 0f an aching tightness or pressure.

Now, in this study, 43 percent of the women had no chest discomfort at all during their heart attack. The women were more likely to complain of shortness of breath, weakness and fatigue during their heart attack, as well.

So the message here, women don't always have chest pain during a heart attack. Also, when they have chest discomfort, it's mainly in the back and high chest, not necessarily on the left side. And heart attacks in women are often missed. And this lack of chest discomfort may explain why women have more unrecognized heart attacks than men. They may go to the emergency room, but then they're sent home.

COSTELLO: I'm getting really paranoid. I have all those symptoms.

FRYHOFER: Well, I know you have sleep problems, but working this shift, what can we say? We can explain that.

COSTELLO: Yes, but how can... FRYHOFER: We can explain that.

COSTELLO: How can you tell? I mean sometimes you do have shortness of breath because you're suffering extreme stress or anxiety. How do you -- how can you tell the difference and what age bracket are we talking about?

FRYHOFER: Well, you know, if you have this unexplained fatigue, you need to talk to your doctor and get it checked out. Fatigue can also be caused by thyroid problems, liver problems, anemia, even depression or working the night shift, in your case, Carol. But don't ignore it, especially if you have heart disease risk factors like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes or if you're overweight or have a family history of heart disease.

The message here is find out what's going on. And remember, heart disease is not just a man's disease. More women die than men each year of heart disease. And unexplained fatigue may be a woman's only warning. So get it checked out.

COSTELLO: OK. I feel a little better because I can't explain my fatigue.

FRYHOFER: You don't feel as tired now.

COSTELLO: No. I feel very peppy. I'll drink some more coffee.

Thank you.

We appreciate it.

Expert advice this morning and we do appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com