8 in 10 Indian women don’t show classic heart attack symptoms, doctors explain real warning signs
Many Indian women don’t experience the classic chest-pain symptoms of a heart attack. Instead, they show subtle warning signs that often go unnoticed. Discover what doctors say about the real symptoms women should watch for and how to identify a heart attack early.
Many of us imagine a heart attack as a sudden, dramatic event: sharp chest pain, clutching the left side of the chest, and collapsing to the ground. But for many women, including in India, that dramatic picture is misleading. The signs are often subtle, confusing, and easily dismissed as acidity, stress, or fatigue.
That’s why doctors now warn: more often than not, women’s heart attacks don’t follow the “classic” script. It pays to know the real warning signs.
Common and often overlooked symptoms in women
According to heart-health research, when women experience a heart attack, their symptoms can be quite different from the usual expectations.
Here are the most frequent warning signs:
- Chest discomfort or pressure: Not always intense pain. Sometimes, there is a feeling of pressure, heaviness, fullness, squeezing or tightness in the chest.
- Pain spreading to other areas: Pain may radiate to the shoulders, arms, back, neck, jaw or even the upper abdomen.
- Shortness of breath: Breathlessness even without chest pain, sometimes during rest or mild activity.
- Unusual fatigue or weakness: Feeling extremely tired, worn out or weak, even doing simple tasks, which is not normal.
- Indigestion-like sensations, nausea, or heartburn: Many women mistake these signals for gas, acidity or digestion issues.
- Cold sweat, light-headedness or dizziness: Breaking out in sweat, feeling dizzy or faint, sometimes accompanied by nausea.
- Anxiety, restlessness or unusual discomfort: Some women describe vague unease, anxiety, or a feeling that “something isn’t right,” rather than specific pain.
Importantly, a heart attack in women may happen without intense chest pain or crushing pressure.
That’s why many cases are misdiagnosed as gas, stress, fatigue, or indigestion, until it’s too late.
However, according to Dr Prateek Chaudhary, Sr. Consultant - Interventional Cardiology, Asian Hospital, women experience heart attacks differently because they rarely show the typical symptoms, which include severe chest pain. The symptoms generally include fatigue and back or jaw discomfort and shortness of breath and stomach discomfort, and a general feeling of body imbalance.
People tend to dismiss these warning signs because they appear insignificant, yet they indicate potential life-threatening conditions.
Disclaimer: Tips and suggestions mentioned in the article are for general information purposes only and should not be construed as professional medical advice. Always consult your doctor or a dietician before starting any fitness programme or making any changes to your diet.
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