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Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) recently published an article showing chest pain is often absent in young women with heart attacks.

Women with heart attacks are more likely to have a heart attack without chest pain (compared to men).  Younger women who have heart attacks without pain are more likely to die in the hospital compared to men their age.  This information comes from data or more than 1 million patients.

The numbers were… 42% of women presented without chest pain compared to 30.7% of men.  14.6% in-hospital death rate in women compared to 10.3% among men.  If women were under age 45 the in-hospital death rate was 18% HIGHER than men.

Women—be aware of your cardiac risk factors.  Stop smoking.  Watch diet.  Exercise regularly.  Know your cholesterol numbers.  Being your own watchdog may help decrease your risk of heart problems.