Women and Heart Attacks

• One in three American women dies of heart disease or a heart attack (1 in 23 women die from breast cancer)
   
• Women account for nearly one half of all heart attack deaths
   
• Thirty-eight percent of women will die within 1 year after having a heart attack
   
• Within six years of having a heart attack, about 46 percent of women become disabled with heart failure
   
• Two thirds of women who have a heart attack fail to make a full recovery.
   

• Pain or discomfort (often a pressure-like pain) in or around the chest, shoulders, jaw, neck, back, or arms. It may feel like a squeezing, pressing sensation in the chest.
• Indigestion or heartburn-type sensation (see Heartburn or Heart Attack?).
• Nausea (feeling sick to your stomach).
• Fatigue.
• Shortness of breath (feeling like you can't get enough air).
• Sweating.
• Lightheadedness.
• Weakness.