Heart attack symptoms for women

Chest pain is the most common symptom of heart attack in men and women. But women are more likely than men to have symptoms that may seem unrelated to a heart attack, such as nausea and brief pain in the neck or back.

Women often describe heart attack chest pain as pressure or tightness. But it's possible to have a heart attack without chest pain.

Women are more likely than men to have these symptoms of a heart attack:

• Neck, jaw, shoulder, upper back or upper stomach pain.
• Shortness of breath.
• Pain in one or both arms.
• Nausea or vomiting.
• Sweating.
• Lightheadedness or dizziness.
• Unusual fatigue.
• Heartburn, also called indigestion.

These symptoms may be vague but more noticeable than the chest pain.

Compared with men, women tend to have symptoms more often when resting, or even when asleep. Emotional stress can play a role in triggering heart attack symptoms too.

Women are more likely than men to have a heart attack with no severe blockage in an artery. When this happens, it's called nonobstructive coronary artery disease.

Also, women tend to have blockages not only in their main arteries but also in the smaller ones that supply blood to the heart. A blockage in the smaller arteries is called small vessel heart disease or coronary microvascular disease.