EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — A new study from the Journal of the American College of Caridology shows that more than half of heart attacks in women under 65 years old are caused by factors other than traditional arterial blockages.
This discovery is important to make sure that patients are properly diagnosed and get the best possible treatment.
Dr. Oscar Munoz, an interventional cardiologist from Del Sol Medical Center in El Paso, said the study was done over 15 years and information was collected from 4,000 women under the age of 65.
The study found that 53 percent of heart attacks in younger women were caused by things other than the traditional cause — an arterial blockage, he said.
The symptoms of the heart attack may be the same — chest pain and shortness of breath, he said.
But it is important to recognize these other factors.
Sometimes, these women don’t have the classic contributing factors like diabetes, high blood pressure, high choloresterol, a history of smoking or family history, he said.
So doctors need to look for a different cause, he said.
In these women, their heart attack may be caused by clot coming from some other location in the body or the wall of an artery splitting into two, he said.
“This is important because management can be completely different (than a heart attack caused by a traditional cause),” Munoz said. “Sometimes, as a physician we should keep that in mind, with females when they are younger and they may not have the classic reasons for a heart attack.”
It could be another cause, and doctors need to be aware of that, he said.
Munoz said patients need to be aware of their own risk factors.
“Sometimes, you will have a patient who is in the office. They are 60 years old and they will say they never had high blood pressure, diabetes or cholesterol. Maybe you did have them and you didn’t know because you never checked,” Munoz said.
Munoz said that the classic preventative measures still apply regardless — don’t smoke, try to eat healthy, keep an active lifestyle and know your family history.
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