Cardiovascular Symptoms Different In Men & Women: Study

News Desk

Islamabad: A recent study found that symptoms of cardiac arrest begin at least 24 hours earlier and that symptoms may differ between men and women.

It is very important to note that there is a difference between cardiac arrest and a heart attack, but usually people are not able to differentiate between them.

A heart attack usually occurs when blood clots in the arteries that supply blood to the heart or, due to another similar problem, the heart rate gradually slows down. A person has a high chance of surviving a heart attack and it can happen to any person more than once.

But cardiac arrest is a serious illness in which the blood supply to the heart suddenly stops and the heart stops beating, due to which other parts of the body, including the brain, do not get the oxygen required to sustain life which is why cardiac arrest is considered dangerous.

According to health experts, usually 90 per cent of people who suffer from cardiac arrest die on the spot or by the time they reach the hospital, but the chances of a person dying from a heart attack are less.

American experts conducted a study on cardiac arrest which found that its symptoms can be different in men and women.

According to the research published in the medical journal ‘The Lancet’, experts reviewed the health and data of more than 7,000 people who sought help for heart disease in an emergency.

Later, experts analysed the health and data of more than 11 volunteers who had suffered cardiac arrest, including people aged 18 to 65 and 643 women.

The research began in 2015, continued it until 2021, and then evaluated the symptoms and severity of the disease in 162 patients out of the total number of individuals.

Experts found that symptoms of cardiac arrest begin at least 24 hours before and become more severe as time passes. The data also showed that the symptoms may differ between men and women, but many of the symptoms were similar.

The most different symptom of cardiac arrest in men and women was that women complained of difficulty breathing 24 hours before, while men complained of sudden severe chest pain.

Johns Hopkins Columbia Heart Failure Clinic Director Dr Lili Barouch said that women are much more likely to have atypical heart attack symptoms. While the classical symptoms, such as chest pains, apply to both men and women, women are much more likely to get less common symptoms such as indigestion, shortness of breath, and back pain, sometimes even in the absence of obvious chest discomfort, Dr. Lili added.

With the passage of time, both the symptoms in men and women become severe, and when such symptoms are seen, people should go to the hospital on an emergency basis.