Imminent Heart Attack in Women: Why Anxiety is a Sign

One of the signs of an imminent heart attack in women is anxiety. It’s one thing if a woman suspects she might have something wrong with her heart, and as a result of this suspicion, develops anxiety. But this is not what I’m talking about here. So I consulted with Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum to explain this phenomenon.

A woman may believe she’s in perfect health and not have a worry in the world about her cardiovascular health. But if her coronary arteries have been clogging up over the years, becoming dangerously blocked, she will then reach a point (if not treated) where a heart attack is imminent.

Classic signs of this are chest pain and shortness of breath. However, another sign – even if she continues to believe she is in great health – is anxiety.

Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum is the Director, Women and Heart Disease, Heart and Vascular Institute, Lenox Hill Hospital, NY.

She explains, ” Oftentimes the compensatory mechanisms in the body lead the mind to believe that it is in an anxious state. When the body is oxygen deprived because of blockages in the blood vessels, the heart accommodates by increasing its speed and increasing its blood pressure. The rate of breathing may also increase, giving the perception of being short of breath. The increased heart rate and respiratory rate is often perceived as anxiety.”

It’s important to note that if a woman has severely blocked coronary arteries, this will not necessarily result in a faster pulse or higher blood pressure.

My mother is a perfect example of this. She has always had a blood pressure device at home, and several times a week, took her blood pressure. The device also measures pulse rate.

Time after time, her blood pressure was in the normal range, with the “top number” (systolic) never exceeding 140. Her heart rate was usually in the 70s, though at times it was measured in the 60s. She thought she was in great shape and never complained of rapid breathing.

But all along, something sinister had been occurring inside her coronary arteries: plaque buildup, which ultimately reached at least 97 percent blockage.

The cardiologist who performed her catheter angiogram was so alarmed that he called a cardiothoracic surgeon to immediately come to the hospital to look at the images. The surgeon wanted to operate that very evening, and did so: a quintuple bypass.

My mother had anxiety, but she had always been prone to anxiety, and just a year prior, had suffered from low-thyroid-induced depression and anxiety, which had been corrected with treatment. But about eight months after that she began having shortness of breath and chest pains, and then one morning vomited.

An imminent heart attack in women can cause anxiety that’s independent of what a woman thinks of her health. A pending heart attack in women can also cause sweating, back pain, shoulder pain, insomnia, nausea and vomiting.


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