Does heart disease affect men and women in the same way?

Merle Myerson, MD, discusses how heart disease can affect men and women differently and often times heart attacks show different symptoms.

Transcript

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We've known for many years, actually, that women might say they have an indigestion feeling or a shortness of breath or a tightness in their chest.

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Heart disease probably affects men and women in the same biological way. However, there are several differences.

00:29

One is when it seems to be prevalent, meaning when does it occur in men and women. And we generally think that for women, it

00:37

happens about 10 years after it would start becoming very common in men.

00:43

One of the reasons for that is going through menopause. And we feel that being premenopausal

00:49

or before menopause has some protection against a heart disease. Not that women, when they're younger,

00:56

are not immune to heart disease. We also think there are differences in terms of how men and women feel pain that could be coming

01:04

from a heart attack, meaning men typically may have the chest pain or the crushing feeling.

01:12

We've known for many years, actually, that women might say they have an indigestion feeling or a shortness of breath or a tightness in their chest

01:23

as opposed to that crushing chest pain. [MUSIC PLAYING]