My husband and I were watching CBS News recently, and one feature story that caught our attention involved a female cardiologist who suffered a massive heart attack after she ignored several warning signs that she had a cardiovascular condition.
Dr. Sandra Nichols says she was “embarrassed” to tell anyone but her immediate family about the massive heart attack she suffered due to stress, her heavy workload, an irregular sleep schedule, and an overall lack of self-care.
“If you can’t manage your own health and if you can’t manage your work-life balance, you can’t be there for others. You can’t be the best person you can be,” Dr. Nichols confessed.
Even with her medical background, she did not recognize her symptoms of congestion and shortness of breath meant she was on the verge of a massive heart attack, or myocardial infarction.
According to Norah O’Donnell, anchor of CBS Evening News, “Nichols is lucky to be alive. When she collapsed during the heart attack, she fell on her curling iron and had a major burn. The doctors told her daughter that if she woke up, she'd be lucky not to be brain dead. As a result of her cardiac arrest, she also needed a heart transplant.”
Women tend to wait before seeking medical attention because the warning signs are different and more subtle than the symptoms men experience.
Stress is a major contributing factor, says Dr. Anum Minhas, a cardiologist at Johns Hopkins. “
While men typically experience chest and arm pain when a heart attack strikes, women more commonly experience neck or jaw pain, shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, and fatigue.
Other symptoms of heart attack in women are upper back or shoulder pain, abdomen discomfort, lightheadedness, dizziness, heartburn, and sweating.
A Mayo Clinic report says, “Compared with men, women tend to have symptoms more often when resting, or even when asleep. Emotional stress can play a role in triggering heart attack symptoms in women. Because women's heart attack symptoms can differ from men's, women might be diagnosed less often with heart disease than are men. Women are more likely than men to have a heart attack with no severe blockage in an artery (nonobstructive coronary artery disease).”
Cardiovascular disease (aka heart disease) is the leading cause of death for men and women in Illinois and across the United States. It comes in many forms and should be quickly and carefully evaluated by a medical professional.
Dr. Nichols encourages everyone to see their primary care provider regularly and listen to their body. "Because if not, they might find themselves flat on the floor, unresponsive, unconscious," she said. "And I strongly hope no one has to go through what I've gone through."
If you are experiencing subtle symptoms of a heart attack you should call 911 immediately! Driving yourself to the hospital is not recommended unless you have no choice.
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Source:
CBS News
Mayo Clinic
Illinois Department of Public Health
