Heart disease trumps all other diseases, including cancer, as the number one cause of death for American women. That's partly because women may suffer from less recognizable heart attack symptoms. Cardiac Rehab at the Avera Heart Hospital is probably the last place Alex Hawkins expected to find herself enrolled.
“Everybody I've told is like, you? It's because I've always tried to stay fairly active. My diet isn't perfect. And I've tried to stay busy all the time and then all of a sudden I had a heart attack and you know, I just never would have expected it,” said Hawkins.
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Women's Heart Attack Symptoms Can Be Different
Even on that fateful day, Aug. 2 to be exact, Hawkins was not aware a heart attack was happening to her.
“I was getting ready and all of a sudden I just started feeling really hot. I kind of blew it off. It was hot. It was a hot day and my chest kind of got a little bit, you know, like something was on it. But I thought, oh, I have indigestion,” said Hawkins.
Hawkins was ignoring her symptoms. Something that women tend to do when it comes to their heart. Symptoms women have more often are shortness of breath, pain in the shoulder jaw or back, and sweating without exertion.
Learn more about women's heart attack symptoms.
"Women oftentimes dismiss their symptoms. So it just plays into the problem where women are diagnosed late. But oftentimes women have these other symptoms that people wouldn't necessarily assign to a cardiac problem initially if they're talking about it,” said Sherrie Brooks, DO, FACC, a cardiologist with the North Central Heart Institute.
For Alex, she went the entire day until jaw pain and a quick Google search prompted her to action.
“I said, Josh, turn off the TV. We're going to the hospital and they got me in and got me going and hooked up and nitro and baby aspirin. And they went from there,” said Hawkins.
Hawkins was lucky she finally listened to her symptoms and got the blockage in her heart removed before more permanent damage was done.
Heart Disease Is No. 1 Killer Among Women
“The bottom line is the number one killer among women is heart disease. So what we're trying to do is bring a lot of focus to women so they understand their symptoms and also understand that if they have one of these other symptoms or these symptoms that are unusual or not classic, per se, for heart disease, that they pay attention to that and they absolutely seek help and at least investigate what your risk factors are and get at least the minimum done to make certain that we're following them,” said Brooks.
As for Hawkins, she's done the work and is recovering the strength in her heart.
“Cardiac rehab was really nice. Everybody was friendly. They were just helpful,” said Hawkins.
Every woman and every case is going to be a little different. Hawkins hopes her experience shares a valuable lesson.
“Listen to your body. Everybody's different. It can happen to anybody,” said Hawkins.
Stopping the threat of heart disease starts with reviewing history and knowing your numbers for cholesterol and other factors. A great way to understand your risk is through a Planet Heart screening to help determine your numbers and establish a plan.
