VOA标准英语2012--Higher Fatality Rate for Younger Women Having Heart Attacks Without Chest（在线收听） |
Higher Fatality Rate for Younger Women Having Heart Attacks Without Chest Kimberly Perazzoli looks like the picture of health. But two years ago, she was tired and living with frequent back pain. "Never, never once did I think I was having a heart attack," she said. But Perazzoli had been to a lecture that may have saved her life. It was by cardiologist John Canto. He spoke about the different warning signs in men and women who are having a heart attack.
When the pain became severe, Perazzoli called for an ambulance. Because she wanted the paramedics to take her seriously, she told them she was having chest pain - instead of the jaw and back pain she was actually having.
"The paramedic looked at me and she said, 'you're having a heart attack," she said.
At 49, Perazzoli was in an age group considered too young for a heart attack.
A study published recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that most women were 10 to 15 years older than men when they had their first heart attack.
Dr. Canto, of the Watson Clinic in Lakeland, Florida, was one of the co-authors of that study. He says the data also showed that a surprising number of younger women, under 55, were coming to the emergency room with symptoms other than chest pain, including shortness of breath, nausea and back or jaw pain.
And 15 percent of those women were in mortal danger when they arrived, compared to 10 percent of men in the same age category.
"Younger women had a higher risk of dying after heart attack compared to similarly aged men," said Dr. Canto.
Dr. Canto says the differences in heart attack symptoms seemed to disappear as men and women got older.
During a Skype interview, we asked him why younger women might be at greater risk.
"Young pre-menopausal women have different hormonal status than older women, and certainly men. It's also reported that younger women who have a heart attack may have a different kind of heart attack that might involve what they call 'plaque erosion'. That's different than the classical type of heart attack, which consists of plaque rupture," he said.
Dr. Canto says younger women taking birth control pills also face a greater risk of blood clots, pulmonary embolism, and spasms of the coronary artery.
Kimberly Perazzoli's chances of survival were good after stents were placed in an artery in her heart.
"I've got a lot of living to do and I think my mortality hit me in the face when I looked in the mirror and felt jaw pain and knew enough to know it was something much more than muscular," she said.
Doctors say more studies are needed about why younger women are showing an increase in heart attacks. Meantime, they want them to recognize those warning signs and get to a hospital in time.
For more information about the warning signs of a heart attack contact the American Heart Association or WomenHeart. |
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