{"id":5579,"date":"2017-03-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-03-04T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/herheart.org\/2017\/03\/05\/40-heart-attacks-women-50-due-condition-youve-never-heard\/"},"modified":"2017-03-05T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-03-04T13:00:00","slug":"heart-attack-women-under-50","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/area54.thedct.net\/herheart\/heart-attack-women-under-50\/","title":{"rendered":"40% Of Heart Attacks In Women Under 50 Are Due To This Condition You\u2019ve Never Heard Of"},"content":{"rendered":"

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ZAGANDESIGN\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p><\/div>\n

By Karen Cicero<\/em><\/p>\n

You’re 35. Fit. Normal\u00a0blood pressure\u00a0and cholesterol. So there’s no way that chest tightness you’re feeling could be a heart attack, right? Not necessarily. “The number one cause of heart attacks in women under 50 has nothing to do with\u00a0cholesterol levels, weight, or fitness habits,” says Alfred Casale, MD, chair of cardiothoracic surgery at Geisinger Health System in Danville, PA. “In fact, if you looked at a scan of the person’s arteries the day before their heart attack, you might say, ‘They look great.'”<\/p>\n

The sneaky culprit of\u00a0heart trouble\u00a0in the 20- to 40-something age range is called SCAD\u2014short for Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection. It happens when the innermost of the three layers of arteries supplying the heart with blood tears out of the blue, causing a clot or flap that can narrow or even block blood flow. Casale supplies 4 important facts every woman need to know about SCAD:<\/p>\n

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No one is immune (but there are some things that increase your chances).<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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While SCAD can happen to anyone, 80% of sufferers are women, and 30% of SCAD heart attacks occur in the third trimester of pregnancy or soon after delivery. “We think hormonal changes late in pregnancy that help loosen the tissues in the birth canal for delivery also affect the blood vessels in the heart too in some women,” he says.<\/p>\n

People with connective tissue disorders, especially noncoronary fibromuscular dysplasia, also have a greater chance of suffering from this type of heart attack. In fact, one\u00a0study\u00a0of 116 SCAD patients at the Mayo Clinic found that 44% of them had this disorder. And being young doesn’t protect you: The average age for a SCAD\u00a0heart attack\u00a0is 42\u2014that’s well below 70, the average age for women’s heart attacks overall.<\/p>\n

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The symptoms are identical to heart attacks in older people.<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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Signs of SCAD don’t differ from a typical heart attack, which is caused by a build-up of plaque. But, in general, women of any age experience\u00a0subtler heart attack symptoms\u00a0than men, says Casale. “Think more like chest discomfort or tightness than crushing pain. The\u00a0pain could also be in your jaw, shoulder, or arm,” he says. If you have these symptoms, don’t hesitate to go to the ER because time is of the essence. “If we can get an artery open within 90 minutes, you have a much better chance at getting back to full speed,” he says. That’s because heart muscle can deal with not having enough blood for about an hour and half\u2014after that, it starts to die.<\/p>\n

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The treatment may not be typical.<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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You’ll get\u00a0blood tests\u00a0in the ER to determine if you’re having a heart attack. “Whether the heart attack is caused by the usual plaque or SCAD, the\u00a0tests will pick it up,” assures Casale. From there, you’ll likely be transported to the cardiac catherization lab. That’s where doctors will be able to tell what caused your blockage. If it’s plaque, chances are you’ll receive a stent\u2014a wire mesh tube that props open an artery. But if it’s SCAD, a stent may do more harm than good. “Stents are effective 90 to 95% of the time for a heart attack caused by plaque, but only 60 to 70% of the time for a SCAD heart attack because the tissue is more fragile,” Casale says. Your doctor will make the judgment call as to whether to go the stent route or treat your blockage with blood thinners alone.<\/p>\n

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Putting things in perspective…<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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You can stop freaking out. Even though SCAD is the top cause of heart attacks in women under 50, thankfully heart attacks in this age group just aren’t all that common overall. For instance, the risk of a 35- to 44-year-old white woman having a heart attack is 1 in 5,000, and it’s about 1 in 1,000 for African American women, according to the\u00a0American Heart Association. Still, “the thing I want women to remember is if something doesn’t feel right in your chest, get it checked out,” says Casale. “Emergency-room doctors would much rather send home a patient than miss a heart attack.”<\/p>\n

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This article was originally published in Prevention<\/a> on March 1, 2017.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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<< Back to Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection (SCAD)<\/a><\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Karen Cicero<\/p>\n

You’re 35. Fit. Normal\u00a0blood pressure\u00a0and cholesterol. So there’s no way that chest tightness you’re feeling could be a heart attack, right? 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