00:00I think largely there still is this misunderstanding that heart attacks are mainly a man's disease when that's just not
00:07the case.
00:08And research shows us that women are around 50% more likely to get a wrong initial diagnosis when they're
00:14having a heart attack.
00:15And of course, if we delay treatment, we are more at risk of having complications later down the line.
00:20So if we look at what the common textbook symptoms that a lot of people will recognise are for heart
00:26attacks,
00:27that is things like a crushing tight central chest pain, pain down one or both arms, sudden onset of shortness
00:33of breath, or feeling just sick or vomiting.
00:36Now, if we compare that with women, now women tend to have less typical symptoms.
00:42They can get these, but generally women tend to experience pain that can be in their jaw or their throat,
00:48back pain, especially across their shoulder blades.
00:51It might be that they come down with a fever or intense fatigue that they just can't place, or as
00:58well as feeling very, very sick.
01:00So they can be a little bit more nonspecific.
01:02What I tend to see time and time again in my surgery or in some of my female patients who
01:08have been in hospital with heart attacks is that women are more inclined to push off their symptoms,
01:13put it down to something else, put themselves at the bottom of the list.
01:16If you recognise any of these symptoms at all, and it crosses your mind, could this be my heart, get
01:22it checked out.
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