A woman who suffered a heart attack a week ago pointed out on Twitter that the symptoms are not universal, and women everywhere have been sharing their experiences with heart attacks in response. The woman whose Tweet went viral wrote that her symptoms weren’t “what you read in pamphlets.” Rather than the typical heart pain, she experienced sporadic back, shoulder, and arm pain for weeks instead. She tried to deal with it on her own and didn't call 911 until she began vomiting and sweating. Considering that women are more likely to die after heart attacks and would have better chances at survival were they treated as aggressively as men, this is a conversation worth having.
The woman's story has been retweeted over 32,000 times, and women, doctors, and even politicians around the US are talking about the lack of knowledge and awareness surrounding women's heart attacks. According to doctors from the Cleveland Health Clinic, women are actually less likely to have the super-recognizable chest pain, and more likely to endure subtler pain and symptoms for up to four weeks before a heart attack. Learn more about the warning signs of heart attacks for women here.