Top Doc: Is It a Heart Attack?

Hide Video Transcript
Video Transcript
: How does a woman's experience of heart attack differ from a man's?
Marianne Legato, MD
Twenty percent of women will not have the same symptoms from a heart attack that a man has, and instead of the classic, there's an elephant on my chest or chest pain radiating into the neck and down the left arm, which is thought to be the classic picture, and what I was taught in medical school. Fully 20%, that's one out of 5 women will have instead epigastric pain or feeling of indigestion, which may or may not radiate to her back. She will become very short of breathe and nauseated and you can imagine when a woman like that, who is not assertive, comes into an ER room and she meets an uniformed triage nurse or physician, she can be sent for an upper GI series or a gallbladder series because she's having a quote gallbladder attack and given valium for her hyperventilation, when in fact, she's having a heart attack. One of my favorite stories is that I appeared in the emergency room to see a patient of mine who had reported herself to the emergency room with just those symptoms, and I walked in to see her, and my intern said to me, not knowing who I was, now you have to be very careful not to misdiagnose this, because 20% of women have just these symptoms when they have a heart attack. I said is that right, I'm very glad to hear you say that. So at least at the level of the young trainee, I think we are making a good impact. latest videos on Women's Health
Myths About Mammograms
Myths and Facts: Pap Smears
Music Video: On Her Path
Video on Kegels: What are They and Why They’re Important
Video on Early Signs of Menopause
Endometriosis Video on the Hunt for a Diagnosis
Endometriosis Video on Finding Relief and Support
Endometriosis Video on Education Around Painful Periods
Video on the Truth About IUDs for Birth Control
Video on the Truth About Tampons
Broken Heart Syndrome Symptoms and Triggers
PID Causes and Symptoms