Myocardial considered a disease of older men, but it is not immune from the young men and women. Since 1994, Women's death rate from heart attacks in the world is greater than men's. Because the symptoms of heart attack in women are atypical, this results in a delay of treatment and frequent mortality.
From what is
Men are prone to heart attacks 3-5 times more often than women. This is due to the fact that the fair sex estrogens, sex hormones, intensively protect vessels of the heart. Therefore infarction in women develops later than in men, and its appearance before menopause is rare. However, after 45-50 years, the production of estrogen by the ovaries is drastically reduced, which increases the risk of heart attack. The probability of a female human illness after 50 years, becomes as high as that of men.
According to statistics, female mortality from heart attack several times higher than from breast cancer.
Causes of myocardial infarction in women:
- Diabetes. Diabetes, in some cases, is the impetus for the development of a heart attack in young women. It changes the threshold of pain, so patients with diabetes often occurs asymptomatic infarction.
- Hypertension. Some patients with hypertension starts to develop during the childbearing and can last a lifetime.
- Unhealthy Lifestyle. Women who smoke higher risk of heart attacks than men who smoke. Obesity, stress also lead to the development of the disease.
- The use of oral contraceptives for a long time. Studies have shown that contraceptive pills increase the risk of blood clots (thrombosis).
- Lack of physical activity. Many women, workload and household chores, do not find time for exercise periods that affect their health.
- Vitamins B12 and D. Vitamin D deficiency may lead to a change in vascular cells, thereby creating a risk of infarction. Vitamin supplementation in patients with hypertension, contributed to a reduction in systolic blood pressure and improve left ventricular function. Doctors also found a link vitamin B12 with an increased frequency of myocardial infarction.
- Heredity. Family history - one of the major risk factors. This applies particularly to young women who have a hypertonic disease.
- Age. Over the years, women have an increased risk of death from heart disease, and the most likely to get them there after menopause. The threat of attack increases every 10 years. In the age group 70-80 years, the chance of having a heart attack is doubled.
What are the symptoms
Female heart attack manifests itself differently than men. Acute chest pain, lasting more than 20 minutes, which are specific to men, there are also women. But more often they experience vague symptoms: general weakness and discomfort. For these reasons, they do not know what to do, do not understand, from which there was a pain, and tend to ignore the problem for a long time. In some cases, women end up in hospital with suspected gallbladder disease, stomach ulcers, inflammation of the joints.
Features of the first signs of myocardial infarction in women:
- Chest pain, discomfort. The nature of the pain is different, it may be burning, and sometimes manifested feeling compressing or filling in the chest, and not only on the left side.
- Soreness in the arm, back, neck or jaw. In 30% of patients the pain occurs atypical, in unexpected places. It may be harsh, poor, developing into an intense, often at night.
- Stomach ache. An indication of myocardial heartburn may be as in the reflux, stomach pain. In other cases, patients experience strong pressure on the peritoneum.
- Shortness of breath, nausea, dizziness. Caused trouble breathing for no apparent reason may indicate the presence of a heart attack.
- Sweating. The appearance of fever, cold sweat is a common sign of a heart attack.
- Feeling tired. In some patients, this feeling appears even when they are sitting still for a long time, or sit idle.
Predinfarkt
Women, unlike men, have a chance to stop developing a heart attack. The time before the acute phase, women may continue to 1-2 months. During this period, there is evidence of worsening predinfarkta testifying of developing heart failure. Predinfarkt symptoms and signs of the women have their own characteristics. Harbinger of a heart attack in women is angina or stable coronary vasospasm.
Predinfarkta Symptoms in women:
- feeling of constant fatigue;
- sleep disturbance, insomnia;
- the first symptoms of tachycardia;
- appearance of dyspnea;
- swelling of the hands and feet, especially the hands and feet;
- bleeding from the gums, often at night;
- more frequent nocturnal desires in a toilet.
In addition to these symptoms sometimes occurs indigestion, as well as the nature of the symptoms of a cold appear. A combination of several signs indicate the need to visit a cardiologist. But the main and the first sign of infarction in women is the presence of pain, sometimes of high intensity.
acute health effects
Atypical manifestations of acute myocardial:
- Anginal. It is registered in 70-80% of cases. The pain associated with this, more often localized in the cheekbones. There may be pain in the neck, numbness of extremities, profuse sweating.
- Asthma attack. The most rarely occurring form having symptoms of bronchospasm. One indicator sign of a heart attack in women older than 50 years, had previously suffered a heart attack.
- Abdominal. This form develops in the vast destruction the rear wall of the myocardium. Symptoms are similar to the picture of the disease in the digestive tract.
Anginal form appears later asthmatic and the abdomen, which complicates the diagnosis and selection of the correct course of treatment.
Sometimes the symptoms of acute myocardial infarction in women occur in other atypical forms:
- arrhythmic, in this case characteristic of cardiac arrhythmias;
- cerebral characteristic of older people in violation of cerebral circulation, and the symptoms of heart attack in women are manifested as impaired coordination and speech tangled.
What to do
If the disease occurs on the background of the typical symptoms, diagnosed in time, the treatment is carried out permanently in the cardiology department. After the examination, the doctor prescribes a pain medicine, preparations for the pressure correction, recovery of heart rate, trombolizisnuyu therapy.
First aid
In the event of signs of a heart attack should call an ambulance immediately. the following steps need to take place before the arrival of doctors:
- create patient absolute rest;
- open a window, providing air access;
- putting it on the bed, lift your head, if present suffocation symptoms, the person should be put;
- put under the tongue nitroglycerin tablets and drugs, which the patient received the treatment, should not be given as this will complicate the diagnosis;
- you can not leave a person in that moment unattended;
- in heart stopping artificial respiration, indirect cardiac massage.
Treatment
The probability of full recovery after an attack is possible, if during the first 6 hours the patient were administered drugs that can completely dissolve the clot and restore patency in the affected vessel. Thrombolytic therapy is decided by the attending physician based on the patient's condition.
For suspected acute forms, massive heart attack, The patient is sent to the resuscitation department of cardiology hospital. In the course of treatment are not only used drugs, so practiced in surgery for coronary balloon angioplasty. In some cases, cardiologists surgeons perform coronary artery bypass grafting.
Recovering from a heart attack takes place within a few months. During this period, a person must not only continue to heal, but also to help to adapt to life after a heart attack.
