Heart disease is the leading killer of<br />both sexes, killing roughly 610,000 people<br />in the United States each year. According to a study published in AHA Journals,<br />women age 35 to 74 account for nearly<br />a third of all female heart attack patients. Between 1995 and 1999,<br />young women only accounted for 27 percent. Melissa Caughey, co-author of the study,<br />says the sudden rise is caused by the overall<br />poorer health of recent generations. High rates of obesity and stress<br />paired with low rates of physical activity<br />are prevalent among younger women. Caughey also noted that women<br />don’t receive the same heart attack care as men. These discrepancies may be<br />due to the fact that female<br />heart attack symptoms are harder<br />to recognize than male symptoms. Warning signs for women include nausea, stomach pain and shortness of breath. Men experience more direct symptoms<br />such as chest pain and numbness.
