CHEST PAIN IN WOMEN
Chest pain is one of the most alarming symptoms to occur for both women and men. For most people, chest pain equals heart disease. Heart disease is the number one killer of women in the United States. While other conditions can cause chest pain, the symptoms should not be dismissed as not being important since cardiac disease is so common and is very dangerous.
Chest pain is not a precise term as it is often used to describe such symptoms as any pain, pressure, choking, squeezing or other discomfort in the chest. It can be also associated with pain in the upper abdomen, neck, jaw, head or arms. Chest pain can last from a few seconds to days or weeks and can occur either frequently or occasionally. It is just a symptom not a diagnosis. So if the symptom occurs, it is important to be evaluated for a cause of the pain.
What are possible causes of chest pain?
Before chest pain can be adequately treated, the underlying cause must be detected. Many conditions can cause pain including some of the following:
- Angina secondary to coronary artery disease
- Heart attack
- Benign chest wall pain
- Heartburn
- Gallbladder disease
- Anxiety or panic disorders
- Mitral valve prolapse
- Inflammation of the covering of the heart (pericarditis)
- Asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia, pleuritis
- Peptic ulcer
- Chest trauma
- Coronary artery spasm
This list is only a partial list of causes. The impact of chest pain can affect one out of every two women at some time in their lifetime. Approximately sixty percent of women who suffer from heart disease may not every have chest pain. Also chest pain has been estimated to occur in over sixty-five percent of women at some time. Recent studies have shown that only about forty-five percent of women experience chest pain during a heart attack. But seventy percent of women who have a heart attack report having chest pain within a year prior to having the heart attack.
What is the future of evaluation for chest pain?
The University of Alabama At Birmingham Medical Center is presently working on studies that can possibly show small vessel disease in the heart muscle that could be a sign of developing heart disease. The studies may in the future be used to attempt to rule out heart disease before present studies will be able to show the disease. This may be able to distinguish the cause of chest pain and be able to show if heart disease is present.
The best thing that can be done is to see your physician if chest pain occurs. If heart disease is present, proper therapy can decrease the risk of morbidity and mortality.
More about Dr. Aulds
Donald G. Aulds, MD is an Obstetrician and Gynecologist and currently serves as the Medical Director for both the Women's Center and the Best Start Program of North Alabama. He is a Diplomat of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Dr. Aulds completed his medical education at Louisiana State University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA and his Internship and Residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Ochsner Medical Foundation, New Orleans, LA.
Dr. Aulds has been an active member of the Huntsville Hospital Medical Staff since 1980.
