Heart disease kills more women than all forms of cancer combined, but the realm of healthcare has spent decades teaching you to recognize primarily male symptoms. This seemingly simple oversight has had devastating consequences, including the loss of life. In many fields, including cardiovascular treatment and research, cardiologists and other specialists have placed the primary focus on male subjects, establishing the gold standard for diagnosis and treatment. What does this mean for women concerned about their cardiovascular health? Walking into a healthcare system that routinely dismisses, misdiagnoses, and fails women in their most dire moments.

Symptom Differentiation

Often, when a man is sick, you know he is. The same is typically true when he experiences heart symptoms. On the other hand, women share a similar aspect in the subtlety of their symptoms. Women don’t have time to investigate every dull ache or odd bout of nausea, what’s new? Fatigue has been a part of your lifestyle since you can remember.

This misprioritization leaves millions of women vulnerable to misdiagnosis and flat-out missed warning signs that could take you from complicated to grim in as little as your next step. Early intervention is always your most excellent defense against any condition, so being mindful of even the slightest symptoms could be all it takes to go from tragedy to treatment.

Nervous System and Pain Perception

Women’s heightened sensitivity to internal organ disruptions often leaves them with a reduced sense of urgency. Cardiac pain in women also differs in location. Women’s nerve pathways cause pain to radiate to the jaw, neck, upper back, and even the abdomen. This is atypical of men’s pain being sited in the chest, left arm, and shoulder. What seems like a pulled shoulder muscle or a toothache to a woman could be an indication of heart complications, even though it may be the last thing you would suspect, given the symptoms.

Cognitive and Behavioral Influences

Due to the subtlety of women’s symptoms, many women rationalize critical signs, leaving them vulnerable to dire consequences. You’re so used to daily discomfort that it has become a survival skill. This adaptability may be what gets you through the day, but when it blinds you to genuine cardiac symptoms, things can quickly become dangerous. Women have been socially conditioned to minimize physical complications, further increasing vulnerability. Taking your health seriously may be uncomfortable, but your symptoms deserve medical attention regardless of whether you can explain them away.

Don’t Go Misdiagnosed

Cardiovascular symptoms differ widely between men and women, making women a target for undiagnosed cardiac conditions. Current cardiac standards center primarily around the male population, which leaves women at a significant disadvantage, as symptoms present remarkably differently. Where men have sharp pain that radiates through the chest and left arm, women experience more subtle indicators like fatigue and breathlessness.

Women notoriously rationalize symptoms as a part of their daily life. Exhaustion is from stress, and nausea is from something you ate. Fluctuating hormone cycles don’t help the matter. Functioning through discomfort becomes your new normal, but this becomes dangerous when genuine cardiac symptoms present. These red flags your body is throwing are dismissed as routine inconvenience, and caregiving roles often worsen this problem. When you take on the responsibility of someone else, their health becomes the priority, and yours gets put on the back burner.  You convince yourself that if things worsen, you will seek medical attention, but your symptoms deserve attention regardless of responsibilities, past dismissals, or uncertainty.

Don’t let a misdiagnosis cost you your life. Get in touch with a specialist today.