HOW TO SURVIVE A HEART ATTACK

Even if you're not positive that it's happening (“It's probably just heartburn”), acting quickly and demanding to be taken seriously can make all the difference.

- BY BETH HOWARD

HEART DISEASE IS THE NUMBER ONE KILLER OF WOMEN IN AMERICA- it takes down more women than breast cancer or COVID, more than car accidents or Alzheimer’s disease. But even if you've heard this before, you might find yourself in complete disbelief should a cardiac event happen to you.

“We don’t tell women enough about their risk for heart issues—plus, women are often busy taking care of others, and sometimes the symptoms aren't the classic ones they hear about,” says Martha Gulati, M.D., associate director of the Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. “This sometimes makes it hard for women to even think it might be their heart.”

The result is missed opportunities to save our own lives: Women have the same risk of heart attacks as do men, but they're twice as likely to die from them. So don’t leave your survival to luck, and don’t be afraid of making a fuss or wasting anyone's time when you seek emergency help. “We would rather evaluate you and say ‘This is not a heart attack’ than have you die at home worrying about anyone being mad at you,” says Dr. Gulati. Here, ways to improve your odds.

1 Know the symptoms.