天博体育

You鈥檝e probably heard the saying, 鈥淚t takes a village to raise a child.鈥� After reading about Rosie O鈥橠onnell鈥檚 heart attack, I鈥檇 like to coin a new one: 鈥淚t often takes a celebrity to sound the alarm about important health issues.鈥�

The 50-year-old actress, comedienne, and talk show host suffered a surprise (aren鈥檛 they all) heart attack last week. Word got out when she .

According to O鈥橠onnell, she helped extricate 鈥渁n enormous woman鈥� who was stuck in her car. Later that day

my body hurt
i had an ache in my chest
both my arms were sore
everything felt bruised
muscular 鈥� i thought

Still later, O鈥橠onnell became nauseous, her skin got clammy, and she felt very hot. She took an aspirin, and the next day went to see a cardiologist. Her electrocardiogram was worrisome enough that she was sent to the hospital. Tests showed that her left anterior descending artery was 99% blocked. She underwent artery-opening angioplasty and had a wire-mesh stent placed to keep the artery open.

鈥淪urprise鈥� symptoms

I am delighted that O鈥橠onnell decided to talk about her symptoms and her trouble realizing she was having a heart attack. Many people think that heart attacks have classic, recognizable symptoms. That鈥檚 not necessarily the case. Some generate subtle signs, others sneaky ones.

One problem was probably her age. At 50, O鈥橠onnell may have thought, 鈥淚鈥檓 too young for this to be a heart attack.鈥� And although we are finally leaving behind the notion that heart attack is a 鈥渕an鈥檚 disease,鈥� many women still don鈥檛 think it can happen to them.

The chest discomfort and arm pain that O鈥橠onnell described are fairly common heart attack symptoms. Her other symptoms are also common in women, but less well known.

During a heart attack, women can have:

• Shortness of breath
• Marked weakness
• Unusual fatigue
• Cold sweats
• Dizziness
• Nausea

Chest pain, a common early warning sign of heart attack in men, is often toward the bottom of the list of symptoms women experience. Those who do feel something in the chest often don鈥檛 use the term pain. Instead they mention aching, tightness, or pressure.

鈥淪ave urself鈥�

An American Heart Association survey done two years ago revealed some startling statistics about women and heart attacks:

• Only 55% of women surveyed said they would call 911 if they thought they were having a heart attack
• 50% of women didn鈥檛 know heart disease was the leading cause of death among women.
• 51% said family or caregiving responsibilities made it difficult or impossible to take steps against heart disease, such as exercise and healthful eating
• 32% said they didn鈥檛 need to take preventive action since they weren鈥檛 at risk for heart disease
• 58% said they were trying to prevent heart disease by taking vitamin A, C, or E (none of which has been shown to work against heart disease).

I hope that the attention O鈥橠onnell might bring to the topic of heart attack in women will help others like her get help sooner. As doctors often say, 鈥淭ime is muscle.鈥� The longer the heart goes without oxygen鈥攖he ultimate effect of a heart attack鈥攖he more damage occurs to the heart muscle.

The bottom line? I鈥檒l give O鈥橠onnell the last words here:

know the symptoms ladies
listen to the voice inside
the one we all so easily ignore
CALL 911
save urself