Women hit by heart attacks told: It’s stress

DOCTORS are more likely to mistake heart attack symptoms for stress or anxiety when the patient is a woman, a study reveals.

Researchers warn the outdated belief that heart attacks are a ‘male disease’ may delay diagnosis and increase the risk of death.

People should seek urgent medical attention when they are experiencing chest pains, regardless of their gender, they added.

Coronary heart disease (CHD) kills more than twice as many women as breast cancer in the UK, with 35,000 admitted to hospital following a heart attack each year.

But women appear to take longer to seek help when suffering lifethreatening symptoms and face further delays when they do.

Researchers from the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona examined data on 41,828 patients admitted with chest pain between 2008 and 2019.

Some 41 per cent of women waited 12 hours or more from the onset of symptoms before getting care, compared with 37 per cent of men.

Electrocardiograms, which check the heart’s rhythm, failed to provide a definitive diagnosis in 93 per cent of cases. Doctors noted probable ‘acute coronary syndrome’, which includes heart attacks, in 45 per cent of men and just 39 per cent of women.

Study author Dr Gemma MartinezNadal said: ‘The low suspicion of heart attack occurs in both women themselves and in physicians, leading to higher risks of late diagnosis and misdiagnosis.’ She said it is ‘considered a male disease, and has been understudied, under-diagnosed, and undertreated in women, who may attribute symptoms to stress or anxiety.’

Hormones can give premenopausal women some protection from CHD but the risk increases with age.

Those with high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes are at increased risk, as well as people who are overweight, smokers or inactive.

The most common symptoms of a heart attack are pressure, tightness or squeezing in the chest.

The findings were presented at the European Society of Cardiology Acute CardioVascular Care conference.