🕷️ Crawler Inspector

URL Lookup

Direct Parameter Lookup

Raw Queries and Responses

1. Shard Calculation

Query:

Response:

Calculated Shard: 84 (from laksa129)

2. Crawled Status Check

Query:

curl -X POST \
  'http://laksa084.int.ahrefs:8124/' \
  -H 'Content-Type: text/plain' \
  -H 'X-ClickHouse-Database: crawler3' \
  -H 'Authorization: Basic YXBpOg==' \
  -d 'SELECT getAhrefsURLFromUnparsed(src_unparsed) AS found_url, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(download_stamp), 0) AS crawl_time, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(props_url_first_seen), 0) AS first_indexed_time, download_http_code AS http_code, src_unparsed AS src_unparsed, src_root_hash AS src_root_hash, history_drop_reason AS history_drop_reason, meta_title AS meta_title, meta_descriptions AS meta_descriptions, attrs_boilerpipe_text AS attrs_boilerpipe_text, attrs_markdown AS attrs_markdown, attrs_readable_markdown AS attrs_readable_markdown, meta_canonical AS meta_canonical FROM crawler3.page_info_local FINAL PREWHERE (src_root_hash, src_unparsed) IN ((getAhrefsRootHashFromUnparsed(getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/09/well/live/heart-disease-symptoms-women.html\')), getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/09/well/live/heart-disease-symptoms-women.html\'))) FORMAT JSONEachRow'

Response:

{"found_url":"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/05\/09\/well\/live\/heart-disease-symptoms-women.html","crawl_time":1772480864,"first_indexed_time":1652104445,"http_code":200,"src_unparsed":"com,nytimes!www,\/2022\/05\/09\/well\/live\/heart-disease-symptoms-women.html s443","src_root_hash":"4566504020376537684","history_drop_reason":null,"meta_title":"Why Heart Disease in Women Is So Often Missed or Dismissed - The New York Times","meta_descriptions":["New research shows that women may not realize their symptoms point to heart trouble, and that medical providers aren’t picking up on it either."],"attrs_boilerpipe_text":"Advertisement\nSKIP ADVERTISEMENT\nNew research shows that women may not realize their symptoms point to heart trouble, and that medical providers aren’t picking up on it either.\nCredit...\nCharlotte Fu\nMay 9, 2022\nHeart disease is the\nleading cause of death\namong men and women in America, killing nearly 700,000 people a year. But\nstudies have long shown\nthat women are more likely than men to dismiss the warning signs of a heart attack, sometimes waiting hours or longer to call 911 or go to a hospital.\nNow researchers are trying to figure out why. They have found that women often hesitate to get help because they tend to have more subtle heart attack symptoms than men — but even when they do go to the hospital, health care providers are more likely to downplay their symptoms or delay treating them. Health authorities say that heart disease in women remains widely underdiagnosed and under treated, and that these factors contribute to worse outcomes among women and heightened rates of death from the disease.\nMost\nstudies suggest that a major reason\nwomen delay seeking care — and are often misdiagnosed — is because of the symptoms they develop. While chest pain or discomfort is the most common sign of a heart attack in both sexes, women who have heart attacks are far less likely than men to have any chest pain at all. Instead, they often have symptoms that can be harder to associate with cardiac trouble, like shortness of breath, cold sweats, malaise, fatigue and jaw and back pain.\nA report by the American Heart Association\nfound that heart attacks are deadlier in women who do not exhibit chest pain, in part because it means both patients and doctors take longer to identify the problem.\nBut when women suspect they are having a heart attack, they still have a harder time getting treated than men do.\nStudies show\nthey are more likely to be told that their symptoms are not cardiovascular related. Many women\nare told by doctors\nthat their symptoms are all in their head. One study found that women complaining of symptoms consistent with heart disease — including chest pain —\nwere twice as likely to be diagnosed with a mental illness\ncompared to men who complained of identical symptoms.\nWomen face longer waits and slower diagnosis.\nIn a study\npublished this month in the Journal of the American Heart Association\n, researchers analyzed data on millions of emergency room visits before the pandemic and found that women — and especially women of color — who complained of chest pain had to wait an average of 11 minutes longer to see a doctor or nurse than men who complained of similar symptoms. Women were less likely to be admitted to the hospital, they received less thorough evaluations and they were less likely to be administered tests like an electrocardiogram, or EKG, which can detect cardiac problems.\nDr. Alexandra Lansky, a cardiologist at Yale-New Haven Hospital, recalled one patient who had gone to multiple doctors complaining of jaw pain, only to be referred to a dentist, who extracted two molars. When the jaw pain didn’t go away, the woman went to see Dr. Lansky, who discovered the problem was heart related. “She ended up having bypass surgery because the jaw pain was heart disease,” said Dr. Lansky, who directs the Yale Cardiovascular Research Center.\nOver the years, health authorities have tried to address the gender gap in cardiovascular care through a variety of public service campaigns. The federal government and the American Heart Association launched campaigns to increase awareness of heart disease and its symptoms among women, as did the Women’s Heart Alliance, which\nstarted placing ads last year\non Facebook, Instagram, and thousands of radio and television stations. Set to music from Lady Gaga, the group’s ads urge women to “\nknow the signs\n” of a heart attack, which it cautions can be as vague as sweating, dizziness or unusual fatigue.\nIn January, a group of scientists published a study that delved into the factors that drive women to delay seeking care for their cardiac troubles. They found that the absence of chest pain or discomfort was a major reason. The study,\npublished in the journal Therapeutics and Clinical Risk Management\n, looked at 218 men and women who were treated for heart attacks at four different hospitals in New York before the pandemic. It found that 62 percent of the women did not have any chest pain or discomfort, compared to just 36 percent of the men. Many women reported shortness of breath as well as gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea and indigestion. About one-quarter of the men also reported having either shortness of breath or gastrointestinal distress.\nUltimately, 72 percent of women who had a heart attack waited more than 90 minutes to go to a hospital or call 911, compared to 54 percent of men. Slightly more than half of the women called a relative or a friend before dialing 911 or going to a hospital, compared to 36 percent of the men.\nHeart disease is rising in younger women.\n“There’s a lack of understanding in both women and men that a heart attack does not have to cause chest pain or these incredible movie-like symptoms,” said Dr. Jacqueline Tamis-Holland, an author of the January study and a cardiologist at Mount Sinai Morningside in New York.\nHow we choose health experts to talk to.\n \nTimes reporters often spend weeks interviewing doctors, researchers and other health professionals to help report an article. We seek leaders in their fields, watch out for conflicts of interest and try to get a variety of viewpoints.\nDr. Tamis-Holland said there were other reasons for the delays. One is that women don’t consider themselves to be as vulnerable to heart disease as men.\nPrevious studies\nhave shown that they are more likely to dismiss their symptoms as stress or anxiety. They also tend to develop heart disease at later ages than men. In Dr. Tamis-Holland’s study, the women who had heart attacks were, on average, 69 years old, while the average age of the men was 61.\nBut younger women are not immune to heart disease. In fact,\nrecent studies have found\nthat heart attacks and deaths from heart disease have been rising among women\nbetween the ages of 35 and 54\n, in part because of an increase in cardiometabolic risk factors like high blood pressure and obesity.\n“I think a lot of young women cannot believe they have heart disease because it’s never been labeled as a disease of young women,” said Dr. Lansky at Yale-New Haven Hospital. “Second, the symptoms in younger women are even less typical — there’s less of the elephant-on-the-chest feeling and more indigestion, shortness of breath, malaise, fatigue and nausea — things that are not very specific. That makes it difficult for them to identify it as a problem.”\nExperts say that more outreach and education is needed to help women and men recognize the signs and risk factors for heart disease. But Dr. Lansky said she also wants to empower people to become advocates for themselves. If you suspect something is wrong with your health then do not let a health care provider turn you away until you have answers, she said.\n“If you’re not feeling right and you think that in the realm of possibilities is an issue with your heart, then you should spell it out,” she said. “Say: ‘I am concerned I may be having a heart attack, and I want an EKG just to be sure.’ Nobody in the emergency department is going to say you can’t have it. But sometimes they’re just not thinking about it, so it’s good to flag it.”\nDr. Lansky recommended that people be as detailed as possible when describing their symptoms, which can lead to better diagnoses. She also pointed out that the Hollywood depictions of people clutching their chests during a heart attack can be misleading: Often people experience chest pressure or tightness because of heart disease, rather than pain. They may also feel unusually fatigued or short of breath in response to slight exertion. “If you used to go up and down the steps and now you have to stop to catch your breath, that should raise a red flag,” she said.\nDr. Lansky urged women to join clinical trials focused on cardiovascular medicine. She pointed out that much of what is known about heart disease comes from studies involving men. Women represent just 20 to 25 percent of the participants in clinical trials related to heart attacks and interventional treatments, she said. One reason is that for many years\nhealth authorities excluded women\n, fearing that if they became pregnant or experienced hormonal fluctuations it could influence trial results.\n“In many cases, our recommendations are based on evidence that’s derived from male patients,” Dr. Lansky said. “In cardiovascular medicine, it’s challenging to get more women involved. There are a million obstacles, but it’s just so important to encourage enrollment in clinical studies. If you want to do something for humankind, that’s a big one.”\nAnahad O’Connor\nis a staff reporter covering health, science, nutrition and other topics. He is also a bestselling author of consumer health books such as “Never Shower in a Thunderstorm” and “The 10 Things You Need to Eat.”\nA version of this article appears in print on\nMay 17, 2022\n, Section D, Page 7 of the New York edition with the headline: Are Women Missing Signs of Heart Disease?\n.\nOrder Reprints\n|\nToday’s Paper\n|\nSubscribe\nRelated Content\nMore in Live\nEric Helgas for The New York Times\nSonia Pulido\nEric Helgas for The New York Times\nGetty Images\nEditors’ Picks\nDustin Chambers for The New York Times\nvia Dorothy Roberts\nTrending in The Times\nClaudia Greco\/Reuters\nJiji Press\/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images\nChris Lee\nCallaghan O'Hare for The New York Times\nKent Edwards\/Reuters\nThe New York Times\nJeremie Souteyrat for The New York Times\nAndrew Kelly\/Reuters\nThe Fashion Auctioneer\nArash Khamooshi for The New York Times\nAdvertisement\nSKIP ADVERTISEMENT","attrs_markdown":"[Skip to content](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/05\/09\/well\/live\/heart-disease-symptoms-women.html#site-content)[Skip to site index](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/05\/09\/well\/live\/heart-disease-symptoms-women.html#site-index)\n\nSearch & Section Navigation\n\nSection Navigation\n\nSearch\n\n[Live](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/well)\n\n[Log in](https:\/\/myaccount.nytimes.com\/auth\/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2Fsubscription%2Fonboarding-offer%3FcampaignId%3D7JFJX%26EXIT_URI%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.nytimes.com%252F2022%252F05%252F09%252Fwell%252Flive%252Fheart-disease-symptoms-women.html&asset=masthead)\n\nMonday, March 2, 2026\n\n[Today’s Paper](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/todayspaper)\n\n[Live](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/well)\\|Why Heart Disease in Women Is So Often Missed or Dismissed\n\nhttps:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/05\/09\/well\/live\/heart-disease-symptoms-women.html\n\n- Share full article\n- 734\n\nAdvertisement\n\n[SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/05\/09\/well\/live\/heart-disease-symptoms-women.html#after-top)\n\nSupported by\n\n[SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/05\/09\/well\/live\/heart-disease-symptoms-women.html#after-sponsor)\n# Why Heart Disease in Women Is So Often Missed or Dismissed\nNew research shows that women may not realize their symptoms point to heart trouble, and that medical providers aren’t picking up on it either.\n\n- Share full article\n- 734\n\n![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2022\/05\/17\/well\/09Well-Heart-Disease-Women\/09Well-Heart-Disease-Women-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n\nCredit...Charlotte Fu\n\n[![Anahad O’Connor](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2018\/10\/17\/multimedia\/author-anahad-oconnor\/author-anahad-oconnor-thumbLarge.png)](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/by\/anahad-oconnor)\n\nBy [Anahad O’Connor](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/by\/anahad-oconnor)\n\nMay 9, 2022\n\n[Leer en español](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/es\/2022\/05\/18\/espanol\/enfermedades-corazon-mujeres.html \"Read in Spanish\")\n\nHeart disease is the [leading cause of death](https:\/\/jamanetwork.com\/journals\/jama\/fullarticle\/2778234) among men and women in America, killing nearly 700,000 people a year. But [studies have long shown](https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/20598976\/) that women are more likely than men to dismiss the warning signs of a heart attack, sometimes waiting hours or longer to call 911 or go to a hospital.\n\nNow researchers are trying to figure out why. They have found that women often hesitate to get help because they tend to have more subtle heart attack symptoms than men — but even when they do go to the hospital, health care providers are more likely to downplay their symptoms or delay treating them. Health authorities say that heart disease in women remains widely underdiagnosed and under treated, and that these factors contribute to worse outcomes among women and heightened rates of death from the disease.\n\nMost [studies suggest that a major reason](https:\/\/www.ahajournals.org\/doi\/10.1161\/CIR.0000000000000351#d3e3120) women delay seeking care — and are often misdiagnosed — is because of the symptoms they develop. While chest pain or discomfort is the most common sign of a heart attack in both sexes, women who have heart attacks are far less likely than men to have any chest pain at all. Instead, they often have symptoms that can be harder to associate with cardiac trouble, like shortness of breath, cold sweats, malaise, fatigue and jaw and back pain. [A report by the American Heart Association](https:\/\/www.ahajournals.org\/doi\/10.1161\/CIR.0000000000000351#d3e3120) found that heart attacks are deadlier in women who do not exhibit chest pain, in part because it means both patients and doctors take longer to identify the problem.\n\nBut when women suspect they are having a heart attack, they still have a harder time getting treated than men do. [Studies show](https:\/\/www.ahajournals.org\/doi\/10.1161\/circulationaha.117.031650) they are more likely to be told that their symptoms are not cardiovascular related. Many women [are told by doctors](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/03\/28\/well\/live\/gaslighting-doctors-patients-health.html) that their symptoms are all in their head. One study found that women complaining of symptoms consistent with heart disease — including chest pain — [were twice as likely to be diagnosed with a mental illness](https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC2825679\/pdf\/jwh.2008.1007.pdf) compared to men who complained of identical symptoms.\n\n## Women face longer waits and slower diagnosis.\nIn a study [published this month in the Journal of the American Heart Association](https:\/\/www.ahajournals.org\/doi\/10.1161\/JAHA.121.024199), researchers analyzed data on millions of emergency room visits before the pandemic and found that women — and especially women of color — who complained of chest pain had to wait an average of 11 minutes longer to see a doctor or nurse than men who complained of similar symptoms. Women were less likely to be admitted to the hospital, they received less thorough evaluations and they were less likely to be administered tests like an electrocardiogram, or EKG, which can detect cardiac problems.\n\nDr. Alexandra Lansky, a cardiologist at Yale-New Haven Hospital, recalled one patient who had gone to multiple doctors complaining of jaw pain, only to be referred to a dentist, who extracted two molars. When the jaw pain didn’t go away, the woman went to see Dr. Lansky, who discovered the problem was heart related. “She ended up having bypass surgery because the jaw pain was heart disease,” said Dr. Lansky, who directs the Yale Cardiovascular Research Center.\n\nOver the years, health authorities have tried to address the gender gap in cardiovascular care through a variety of public service campaigns. The federal government and the American Heart Association launched campaigns to increase awareness of heart disease and its symptoms among women, as did the Women’s Heart Alliance, which [started placing ads last year](https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=SxIvP6YOU1w) on Facebook, Instagram, and thousands of radio and television stations. Set to music from Lady Gaga, the group’s ads urge women to “[know the signs](https:\/\/womensheartalliance.org\/2021\/11\/womens-heart-alliance-and-womenheart-launch-national-awareness-campaign\/)” of a heart attack, which it cautions can be as vague as sweating, dizziness or unusual fatigue.\n\nIn January, a group of scientists published a study that delved into the factors that drive women to delay seeking care for their cardiac troubles. They found that the absence of chest pain or discomfort was a major reason. The study, [published in the journal Therapeutics and Clinical Risk Management](https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC8742618\/), looked at 218 men and women who were treated for heart attacks at four different hospitals in New York before the pandemic. It found that 62 percent of the women did not have any chest pain or discomfort, compared to just 36 percent of the men. Many women reported shortness of breath as well as gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea and indigestion. About one-quarter of the men also reported having either shortness of breath or gastrointestinal distress.\n\nUltimately, 72 percent of women who had a heart attack waited more than 90 minutes to go to a hospital or call 911, compared to 54 percent of men. Slightly more than half of the women called a relative or a friend before dialing 911 or going to a hospital, compared to 36 percent of the men.\n\n## Editors’ Picks\n[![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/28\/well\/28TAI-CHI-WALKING3\/28TAI-CHI-WALKING3-thumbLarge.jpg)The Very Real Benefits of Tai Chi Walking](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/28\/well\/move\/tai-chi-walking-balance-longevity.html)\n\n[![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2023\/09\/21\/t-magazine\/21tmag-justinian-slide-JOO5-copy-copy\/21tmag-justinian-slide-JOO5-thumbLarge.jpg)Our Favorite Living Rooms](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/28\/t-magazine\/best-living-room-design.html)\n\n[![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/01\/nyregion\/01diary-illos-1\/01diary-illos-1-thumbLarge.jpg)‘He Opened the Safe and Took Out All the Cash That Was There’](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/01\/nyregion\/metropolitan-diary.html)\n\nAdvertisement\n\n[SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/05\/09\/well\/live\/heart-disease-symptoms-women.html#after-pp_edpick)\n\n## Heart disease is rising in younger women.\n“There’s a lack of understanding in both women and men that a heart attack does not have to cause chest pain or these incredible movie-like symptoms,” said Dr. Jacqueline Tamis-Holland, an author of the January study and a cardiologist at Mount Sinai Morningside in New York.\n\nHow we choose health experts to talk to. Times reporters often spend weeks interviewing doctors, researchers and other health professionals to help report an article. We seek leaders in their fields, watch out for conflicts of interest and try to get a variety of viewpoints.\n\n[Here’s more on our process.](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/09\/16\/well\/how-health-reporters-choose-experts.html)\n\nDr. Tamis-Holland said there were other reasons for the delays. One is that women don’t consider themselves to be as vulnerable to heart disease as men. [Previous studies](https:\/\/www.ahajournals.org\/doi\/10.1161\/circulationaha.117.031650) have shown that they are more likely to dismiss their symptoms as stress or anxiety. They also tend to develop heart disease at later ages than men. In Dr. Tamis-Holland’s study, the women who had heart attacks were, on average, 69 years old, while the average age of the men was 61.\n\nBut younger women are not immune to heart disease. In fact, [recent studies have found](https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/ehjqcco\/advance-article\/doi\/10.1093\/ehjqcco\/qcaa099\/6130732?login=false) that heart attacks and deaths from heart disease have been rising among women [between the ages of 35 and 54](https:\/\/www.hopkinsmedicine.org\/health\/conditions-and-diseases\/heart-attack\/heart-attacks-striking-younger-women), in part because of an increase in cardiometabolic risk factors like high blood pressure and obesity.\n\n“I think a lot of young women cannot believe they have heart disease because it’s never been labeled as a disease of young women,” said Dr. Lansky at Yale-New Haven Hospital. “Second, the symptoms in younger women are even less typical — there’s less of the elephant-on-the-chest feeling and more indigestion, shortness of breath, malaise, fatigue and nausea — things that are not very specific. That makes it difficult for them to identify it as a problem.”\n\nExperts say that more outreach and education is needed to help women and men recognize the signs and risk factors for heart disease. But Dr. Lansky said she also wants to empower people to become advocates for themselves. If you suspect something is wrong with your health then do not let a health care provider turn you away until you have answers, she said.\n\n“If you’re not feeling right and you think that in the realm of possibilities is an issue with your heart, then you should spell it out,” she said. “Say: ‘I am concerned I may be having a heart attack, and I want an EKG just to be sure.’ Nobody in the emergency department is going to say you can’t have it. But sometimes they’re just not thinking about it, so it’s good to flag it.”\n\nDr. Lansky recommended that people be as detailed as possible when describing their symptoms, which can lead to better diagnoses. She also pointed out that the Hollywood depictions of people clutching their chests during a heart attack can be misleading: Often people experience chest pressure or tightness because of heart disease, rather than pain. They may also feel unusually fatigued or short of breath in response to slight exertion. “If you used to go up and down the steps and now you have to stop to catch your breath, that should raise a red flag,” she said.\n\nDr. Lansky urged women to join clinical trials focused on cardiovascular medicine. She pointed out that much of what is known about heart disease comes from studies involving men. Women represent just 20 to 25 percent of the participants in clinical trials related to heart attacks and interventional treatments, she said. One reason is that for many years [health authorities excluded women](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/03\/28\/well\/live\/gaslighting-doctors-patients-health.html), fearing that if they became pregnant or experienced hormonal fluctuations it could influence trial results.\n\n“In many cases, our recommendations are based on evidence that’s derived from male patients,” Dr. Lansky said. “In cardiovascular medicine, it’s challenging to get more women involved. There are a million obstacles, but it’s just so important to encourage enrollment in clinical studies. If you want to do something for humankind, that’s a big one.”\n\n[Anahad O’Connor](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/by\/anahad-oconnor) is a staff reporter covering health, science, nutrition and other topics. He is also a bestselling author of consumer health books such as “Never Shower in a Thunderstorm” and “The 10 Things You Need to Eat.”\n\nA version of this article appears in print on May 17, 2022, Section D, Page 7 of the New York edition with the headline: Are Women Missing Signs of Heart Disease?. [Order Reprints](https:\/\/nytimes.wrightsmedia.com\/) \\| [Today’s Paper](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/todayspaper) \\| [Subscribe](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscriptions\/Multiproduct\/lp8HYKU.html?campaignId=48JQY)\n\nRead 734 comments\n\n- Share full article\n- 734\n\n***\n## What to Know About Heart Health\n### Heart attacks and strokes are among the leading causes of death around the world, but there are ways to protect yourself.\n***\n- **Get Your Blood Pressure Under Control:** Hypertension can lead to heart attack and stroke, and is also linked to dementia. [Here are some simple steps](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/04\/well\/blood-pressure-tips.html) that can help get your blood pressure in check.\n- **Women’s Heart Health:** Cardiovascular health for women has long been overlooked and understudied. [Here are seven things to keep in mind](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/01\/19\/well\/womens-heart-health.html).\n- **Is It Healthy to Take Aspirin Every Day?**: A decade ago, the best evidence available suggested that the routine use of aspirin by people without a history of heart disease could reduce heart attacks and strokes by helping to prevent the formation of blood clots. But three large, randomized trials published in 2018 [upended that thinking](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/01\/02\/well\/trump-health-asprin-dosage-blood.html).\n- **Controlling Blood Sugar:** People who brought their blood glucose down to a normal level [had a lower risk of death from heart disease or hospitalization for heart failure](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/12\/15\/well\/blood-sugar-heart-disease-risk.html) after 20 years, a study showed.\n- **Is Melatonin Bad for Your Heart?:** Headlines about an unpublished study set to be presented at the American Heart Association’s scientific conference raised alarms about the popular sleep supplement. [Here’s what to know](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/11\/05\/well\/melatonin-heart-health-study.html).\n- **Most Common Signs of a Heart Attack**: They [aren’t all sudden or intense](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/10\/10\/well\/common-signs-heart-attack.html), experts say.\n\n## Related Content\n### [More in Live](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/well)\n- [What Can You Do About Tinnitus?](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/04\/29\/well\/live\/tinnitus-treatment-options.html)\n  \n  ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/05\/06\/well\/29ASKWELL-TINNITUS2\/29ASKWELL-TINNITUS2-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Eric Helgas for The New York Times\n- [A Longevity Expert’s 5 Tips for Aging Well](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/05\/06\/well\/live\/eric-topol-longevity-tips.html)\n  \n  ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/05\/13\/well\/06WELL-TOPOL-LONGEVITY\/06WELL-TOPOL-LONGEVITY-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Sonia Pulido\n- [What’s the Best Way to Wake Up?](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/05\/06\/well\/live\/healthy-morning-habits.html)\n  \n  ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/05\/13\/multimedia\/06ASKWELL-WAKING-UP1-hmgk\/06ASKWELL-WAKING-UP1-hmgk-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Eric Helgas for The New York Times\n- [New Guidelines Call on Doctors to Take IUD Insertion Pain Seriously](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/05\/15\/well\/live\/guidelines-iud-insertion-pain-management.html)\n  \n  ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/05\/20\/well\/WELL-ACOG-IUD3\/WELL-ACOG-IUD3-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Getty Images\n\n### Editors’ Picks\n- [The Very Real Benefits of Tai Chi Walking](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/28\/well\/move\/tai-chi-walking-balance-longevity.html)\n  \n  ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/28\/well\/28TAI-CHI-WALKING3\/28TAI-CHI-WALKING3-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Dustin Chambers for The New York Times\n- [Did Her White Father Marry Her Black Mother for Love, or for Research?](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/23\/books\/review\/the-mixed-marriage-project-dorothy-roberts.html)\n  \n  Book Review\n  \n  ![The Roberts family at their home in the Kenwood neighborhood of Chicago, 1960.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/28\/multimedia\/28TBR-ROBERTS-REVIEW-qkvf\/28TBR-ROBERTS-REVIEW-qkvf-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  via Dorothy Roberts\n\n### Trending in The Times\n- [An ‘American Gigolo’ in Milan](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/02\/style\/armani-gere-gigolo.html)\n  \n  ![The Giorgio Arman exhibition at the Pinacoteca di Brera art museum in Milan.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/02\/multimedia\/02NL-FASHIONWEEK-milan-fczm\/02NL-FASHIONWEEK-milan-fczm-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Claudia Greco\/Reuters\n- [Watch the Moon Turn Blood Red During a Total Lunar Eclipse](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/02\/science\/blood-moon-lunar-eclipse-time-when-tonight.html)\n  \n  ![To best view the phenomenon, NASA recommends finding a dark place away from bright lights. ](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/02\/multimedia\/02hs-blood-moon-ghfj\/02hs-blood-moon-ghfj-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Jiji Press\/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images\n- [Two Approaches to Musical Time, From the Vienna Philharmonic](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/02\/arts\/music\/vienna-philharmonic-carnegie-hall.html)\n  \n  ![Andris Nelsons leading the Vienna Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall on Friday, in the first of three concerts there last weekend.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/02\/multimedia\/02cul-vienna-philharmonic-jmlk\/02cul-vienna-philharmonic-jmlk-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Chris Lee\n- [As Kennedy Turns From Vaccines, MAHA Allies See a ‘Betrayal’](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/02\/health\/kennedy-maha-vaccines.html)\n  \n  ![Derrick Wynne was discharged from the Army for refusing a Covid shot. “He was using our movement to gain a huge amount of traction,” he said of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/12\/05\/multimedia\/00hs-antivax-pqbj\/00hs-antivax-pqbj-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Callaghan O'Hare for The New York Times\n- [Takeaways from the Fourth Week of the Alexander Brothers Trial](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/02\/nyregion\/alexanders-trial-takeaways-sex-crime.html)\n  \n  ![The prosecution may rest their case this week against the Alexander brothers in federal court in Manhattan.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/02\/multimedia\/02met-alexanders-takeaway-02-qvzl\/02met-alexanders-takeaway-02-qvzl-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Kent Edwards\/Reuters\n- [Maps: Small Earthquake Shakes Central California](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2026\/03\/02\/us\/quake-tracker-central-california.html)\n  \n  ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/02\/world\/02wea-quake-tracker-northern-california-nytiruy5-index\/02wea-quake-tracker-northern-california-nytiruy5-index-square640-v14.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  The New York Times\n- [A Quirky Watch Brand Studio Gets Serious](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/02\/fashion\/watches-studio-underd0g-britain.html)\n  \n  ![Richard Benc, the founder of the watch brand Studio Underd0g, said that the company has always embodied its tagline: serious watches for serious collectors (who don’t take themselves too seriously).](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/03\/multimedia\/03sp-watches-underdog-inyt-01-cpgq\/03sp-watches-underdog-inyt-01-cpgq-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Jeremie Souteyrat for The New York Times\n- [Scientists Decry ‘Political Attack’ on Reference Manual for Judges](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/02\/climate\/climate-science-judges-manual.html)\n  \n  ![The Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building where the Federal Judicial Center is located.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/02\/multimedia\/02cli-judges-manual-gjlv\/02cli-judges-manual-gjlv-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Andrew Kelly\/Reuters\n- [Carolyn Bessette Kennedy’s Wardrobe Finds a New Obsessive Audience](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/02\/style\/carolyn-bessette-kennedy-auction-love-story.html)\n  \n  ![Several styles worn by Ms. Bessette Kennedy are on sale in an auction timed to meet renewed interest in her style.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/27\/multimedia\/ST-CBK-AUCTION-01-zmpf\/ST-CBK-AUCTION-01-zmpf-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  The Fashion Auctioneer\n- [Iran’s Regime May Survive, but the Middle East Will Be Changed](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/01\/world\/middleeast\/iran-regime-middle-east-khamenei.html)\n  \n  ![Iranians mourning the killing of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Sunday. ](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/01\/multimedia\/01Iran-change-01-bwqz\/01Iran-change-01-bwqz-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Arash Khamooshi for The New York Times\n\nAdvertisement\n\n[SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/05\/09\/well\/live\/heart-disease-symptoms-women.html#after-bottom)\n\n## Site Index\n[Go to Home Page »](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/)\n\nNews\n\n- [Home Page](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/)\n- [U.S.](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/us)\n- [World](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/world)\n- [Politics](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/politics)\n- [New York](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/nyregion)\n- [Education](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/education)\n- 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death](https:\/\/jamanetwork.com\/journals\/jama\/fullarticle\/2778234) among men and women in America, killing nearly 700,000 people a year. But [studies have long shown](https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/20598976\/) that women are more likely than men to dismiss the warning signs of a heart attack, sometimes waiting hours or longer to call 911 or go to a hospital.\n\nNow researchers are trying to figure out why. They have found that women often hesitate to get help because they tend to have more subtle heart attack symptoms than men — but even when they do go to the hospital, health care providers are more likely to downplay their symptoms or delay treating them. Health authorities say that heart disease in women remains widely underdiagnosed and under treated, and that these factors contribute to worse outcomes among women and heightened rates of death from the disease.\n\nMost [studies suggest that a major reason](https:\/\/www.ahajournals.org\/doi\/10.1161\/CIR.0000000000000351#d3e3120) women delay seeking care — and are often misdiagnosed — is because of the symptoms they develop. While chest pain or discomfort is the most common sign of a heart attack in both sexes, women who have heart attacks are far less likely than men to have any chest pain at all. Instead, they often have symptoms that can be harder to associate with cardiac trouble, like shortness of breath, cold sweats, malaise, fatigue and jaw and back pain. [A report by the American Heart Association](https:\/\/www.ahajournals.org\/doi\/10.1161\/CIR.0000000000000351#d3e3120) found that heart attacks are deadlier in women who do not exhibit chest pain, in part because it means both patients and doctors take longer to identify the problem.\n\nBut when women suspect they are having a heart attack, they still have a harder time getting treated than men do. [Studies show](https:\/\/www.ahajournals.org\/doi\/10.1161\/circulationaha.117.031650) they are more likely to be told that their symptoms are not cardiovascular related. Many women [are told by doctors](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/03\/28\/well\/live\/gaslighting-doctors-patients-health.html) that their symptoms are all in their head. One study found that women complaining of symptoms consistent with heart disease — including chest pain — [were twice as likely to be diagnosed with a mental illness](https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC2825679\/pdf\/jwh.2008.1007.pdf) compared to men who complained of identical symptoms.\n\n## Women face longer waits and slower diagnosis.\nIn a study [published this month in the Journal of the American Heart Association](https:\/\/www.ahajournals.org\/doi\/10.1161\/JAHA.121.024199), researchers analyzed data on millions of emergency room visits before the pandemic and found that women — and especially women of color — who complained of chest pain had to wait an average of 11 minutes longer to see a doctor or nurse than men who complained of similar symptoms. Women were less likely to be admitted to the hospital, they received less thorough evaluations and they were less likely to be administered tests like an electrocardiogram, or EKG, which can detect cardiac problems.\n\nDr. Alexandra Lansky, a cardiologist at Yale-New Haven Hospital, recalled one patient who had gone to multiple doctors complaining of jaw pain, only to be referred to a dentist, who extracted two molars. When the jaw pain didn’t go away, the woman went to see Dr. Lansky, who discovered the problem was heart related. “She ended up having bypass surgery because the jaw pain was heart disease,” said Dr. Lansky, who directs the Yale Cardiovascular Research Center.\n\nOver the years, health authorities have tried to address the gender gap in cardiovascular care through a variety of public service campaigns. The federal government and the American Heart Association launched campaigns to increase awareness of heart disease and its symptoms among women, as did the Women’s Heart Alliance, which [started placing ads last year](https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=SxIvP6YOU1w) on Facebook, Instagram, and thousands of radio and television stations. Set to music from Lady Gaga, the group’s ads urge women to “[know the signs](https:\/\/womensheartalliance.org\/2021\/11\/womens-heart-alliance-and-womenheart-launch-national-awareness-campaign\/)” of a heart attack, which it cautions can be as vague as sweating, dizziness or unusual fatigue.\n\nIn January, a group of scientists published a study that delved into the factors that drive women to delay seeking care for their cardiac troubles. They found that the absence of chest pain or discomfort was a major reason. The study, [published in the journal Therapeutics and Clinical Risk Management](https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC8742618\/), looked at 218 men and women who were treated for heart attacks at four different hospitals in New York before the pandemic. It found that 62 percent of the women did not have any chest pain or discomfort, compared to just 36 percent of the men. Many women reported shortness of breath as well as gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea and indigestion. About one-quarter of the men also reported having either shortness of breath or gastrointestinal distress.\n\nUltimately, 72 percent of women who had a heart attack waited more than 90 minutes to go to a hospital or call 911, compared to 54 percent of men. Slightly more than half of the women called a relative or a friend before dialing 911 or going to a hospital, compared to 36 percent of the men.\n\n## Heart disease is rising in younger women.\n“There’s a lack of understanding in both women and men that a heart attack does not have to cause chest pain or these incredible movie-like symptoms,” said Dr. Jacqueline Tamis-Holland, an author of the January study and a cardiologist at Mount Sinai Morningside in New York.\n\nHow we choose health experts to talk to. Times reporters often spend weeks interviewing doctors, researchers and other health professionals to help report an article. We seek leaders in their fields, watch out for conflicts of interest and try to get a variety of viewpoints.\n\nDr. Tamis-Holland said there were other reasons for the delays. One is that women don’t consider themselves to be as vulnerable to heart disease as men. [Previous studies](https:\/\/www.ahajournals.org\/doi\/10.1161\/circulationaha.117.031650) have shown that they are more likely to dismiss their symptoms as stress or anxiety. They also tend to develop heart disease at later ages than men. In Dr. Tamis-Holland’s study, the women who had heart attacks were, on average, 69 years old, while the average age of the men was 61.\n\nBut younger women are not immune to heart disease. In fact, [recent studies have found](https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/ehjqcco\/advance-article\/doi\/10.1093\/ehjqcco\/qcaa099\/6130732?login=false) that heart attacks and deaths from heart disease have been rising among women [between the ages of 35 and 54](https:\/\/www.hopkinsmedicine.org\/health\/conditions-and-diseases\/heart-attack\/heart-attacks-striking-younger-women), in part because of an increase in cardiometabolic risk factors like high blood pressure and obesity.\n\n“I think a lot of young women cannot believe they have heart disease because it’s never been labeled as a disease of young women,” said Dr. Lansky at Yale-New Haven Hospital. “Second, the symptoms in younger women are even less typical — there’s less of the elephant-on-the-chest feeling and more indigestion, shortness of breath, malaise, fatigue and nausea — things that are not very specific. That makes it difficult for them to identify it as a problem.”\n\nExperts say that more outreach and education is needed to help women and men recognize the signs and risk factors for heart disease. But Dr. Lansky said she also wants to empower people to become advocates for themselves. If you suspect something is wrong with your health then do not let a health care provider turn you away until you have answers, she said.\n\n“If you’re not feeling right and you think that in the realm of possibilities is an issue with your heart, then you should spell it out,” she said. “Say: ‘I am concerned I may be having a heart attack, and I want an EKG just to be sure.’ Nobody in the emergency department is going to say you can’t have it. But sometimes they’re just not thinking about it, so it’s good to flag it.”\n\nDr. Lansky recommended that people be as detailed as possible when describing their symptoms, which can lead to better diagnoses. She also pointed out that the Hollywood depictions of people clutching their chests during a heart attack can be misleading: Often people experience chest pressure or tightness because of heart disease, rather than pain. They may also feel unusually fatigued or short of breath in response to slight exertion. “If you used to go up and down the steps and now you have to stop to catch your breath, that should raise a red flag,” she said.\n\nDr. Lansky urged women to join clinical trials focused on cardiovascular medicine. She pointed out that much of what is known about heart disease comes from studies involving men. Women represent just 20 to 25 percent of the participants in clinical trials related to heart attacks and interventional treatments, she said. One reason is that for many years [health authorities excluded women](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/03\/28\/well\/live\/gaslighting-doctors-patients-health.html), fearing that if they became pregnant or experienced hormonal fluctuations it could influence trial results.\n\n“In many cases, our recommendations are based on evidence that’s derived from male patients,” Dr. Lansky said. “In cardiovascular medicine, it’s challenging to get more women involved. There are a million obstacles, but it’s just so important to encourage enrollment in clinical studies. If you want to do something for humankind, that’s a big one.”\n\n[Anahad O’Connor](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/by\/anahad-oconnor) is a staff reporter covering health, science, nutrition and other topics. He is also a bestselling author of consumer health books such as “Never Shower in a Thunderstorm” and “The 10 Things You Need to Eat.”\n\nA version of this article appears in print on May 17, 2022, Section D, Page 7 of the New York edition with the headline: Are Women Missing Signs of Heart Disease?. [Order Reprints](https:\/\/nytimes.wrightsmedia.com\/) \\| [Today’s Paper](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/todayspaper) \\| [Subscribe](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscriptions\/Multiproduct\/lp8HYKU.html?campaignId=48JQY)\n\n## Related Content\n[More in Live](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/well)\n\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/05\/06\/well\/29ASKWELL-TINNITUS2\/29ASKWELL-TINNITUS2-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Eric Helgas for The New York Times\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/05\/13\/well\/06WELL-TOPOL-LONGEVITY\/06WELL-TOPOL-LONGEVITY-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Sonia Pulido\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/05\/13\/multimedia\/06ASKWELL-WAKING-UP1-hmgk\/06ASKWELL-WAKING-UP1-hmgk-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Eric Helgas for The New York Times\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/05\/20\/well\/WELL-ACOG-IUD3\/WELL-ACOG-IUD3-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Getty Images\n\nEditors’ Picks\n\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/28\/well\/28TAI-CHI-WALKING3\/28TAI-CHI-WALKING3-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Dustin Chambers for The New York Times\n- ![The Roberts family at their home in the Kenwood neighborhood of Chicago, 1960.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/28\/multimedia\/28TBR-ROBERTS-REVIEW-qkvf\/28TBR-ROBERTS-REVIEW-qkvf-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  via Dorothy Roberts\n\nTrending in The Times\n\n- ![The Giorgio Arman exhibition at the Pinacoteca di Brera art museum in Milan.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/02\/multimedia\/02NL-FASHIONWEEK-milan-fczm\/02NL-FASHIONWEEK-milan-fczm-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Claudia Greco\/Reuters\n- ![To best view the phenomenon, NASA recommends finding a dark place away from bright lights. ](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/02\/multimedia\/02hs-blood-moon-ghfj\/02hs-blood-moon-ghfj-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Jiji Press\/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images\n- ![Andris Nelsons leading the Vienna Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall on Friday, in the first of three concerts there last weekend.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/02\/multimedia\/02cul-vienna-philharmonic-jmlk\/02cul-vienna-philharmonic-jmlk-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Chris Lee\n- ![Derrick Wynne was discharged from the Army for refusing a Covid shot. “He was using our movement to gain a huge amount of traction,” he said of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/12\/05\/multimedia\/00hs-antivax-pqbj\/00hs-antivax-pqbj-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Callaghan O'Hare for The New York Times\n- ![The prosecution may rest their case this week against the Alexander brothers in federal court in Manhattan.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/02\/multimedia\/02met-alexanders-takeaway-02-qvzl\/02met-alexanders-takeaway-02-qvzl-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Kent Edwards\/Reuters\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/02\/world\/02wea-quake-tracker-northern-california-nytiruy5-index\/02wea-quake-tracker-northern-california-nytiruy5-index-square640-v14.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  The New York Times\n- ![Richard Benc, the founder of the watch brand Studio Underd0g, said that the company has always embodied its tagline: serious watches for serious collectors (who don’t take themselves too seriously).](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/03\/multimedia\/03sp-watches-underdog-inyt-01-cpgq\/03sp-watches-underdog-inyt-01-cpgq-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Jeremie Souteyrat for The New York Times\n- ![The Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building where the Federal Judicial Center is located.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/02\/multimedia\/02cli-judges-manual-gjlv\/02cli-judges-manual-gjlv-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Andrew Kelly\/Reuters\n- ![Several styles worn by Ms. Bessette Kennedy are on sale in an auction timed to meet renewed interest in her style.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/27\/multimedia\/ST-CBK-AUCTION-01-zmpf\/ST-CBK-AUCTION-01-zmpf-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  The Fashion Auctioneer\n- ![Iranians mourning the killing of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Sunday. ](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/01\/multimedia\/01Iran-change-01-bwqz\/01Iran-change-01-bwqz-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Arash Khamooshi for The New York Times\n\nAdvertisement\n\n[SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/05\/09\/well\/live\/heart-disease-symptoms-women.html#after-bottom)","meta_canonical":null}

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Boilerpipe Text	Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT New research shows that women may not realize their symptoms point to heart trouble, and that medical providers aren’t picking up on it either. Credit... Charlotte Fu May 9, 2022 Heart disease is the leading cause of death among men and women in America, killing nearly 700,000 people a year. But studies have long shown that women are more likely than men to dismiss the warning signs of a heart attack, sometimes waiting hours or longer to call 911 or go to a hospital. Now researchers are trying to figure out why. They have found that women often hesitate to get help because they tend to have more subtle heart attack symptoms than men — but even when they do go to the hospital, health care providers are more likely to downplay their symptoms or delay treating them. Health authorities say that heart disease in women remains widely underdiagnosed and under treated, and that these factors contribute to worse outcomes among women and heightened rates of death from the disease. Most studies suggest that a major reason women delay seeking care — and are often misdiagnosed — is because of the symptoms they develop. While chest pain or discomfort is the most common sign of a heart attack in both sexes, women who have heart attacks are far less likely than men to have any chest pain at all. Instead, they often have symptoms that can be harder to associate with cardiac trouble, like shortness of breath, cold sweats, malaise, fatigue and jaw and back pain. A report by the American Heart Association found that heart attacks are deadlier in women who do not exhibit chest pain, in part because it means both patients and doctors take longer to identify the problem. But when women suspect they are having a heart attack, they still have a harder time getting treated than men do. Studies show they are more likely to be told that their symptoms are not cardiovascular related. Many women are told by doctors that their symptoms are all in their head. One study found that women complaining of symptoms consistent with heart disease — including chest pain — were twice as likely to be diagnosed with a mental illness compared to men who complained of identical symptoms. Women face longer waits and slower diagnosis. In a study published this month in the Journal of the American Heart Association , researchers analyzed data on millions of emergency room visits before the pandemic and found that women — and especially women of color — who complained of chest pain had to wait an average of 11 minutes longer to see a doctor or nurse than men who complained of similar symptoms. Women were less likely to be admitted to the hospital, they received less thorough evaluations and they were less likely to be administered tests like an electrocardiogram, or EKG, which can detect cardiac problems. Dr. Alexandra Lansky, a cardiologist at Yale-New Haven Hospital, recalled one patient who had gone to multiple doctors complaining of jaw pain, only to be referred to a dentist, who extracted two molars. When the jaw pain didn’t go away, the woman went to see Dr. Lansky, who discovered the problem was heart related. “She ended up having bypass surgery because the jaw pain was heart disease,” said Dr. Lansky, who directs the Yale Cardiovascular Research Center. Over the years, health authorities have tried to address the gender gap in cardiovascular care through a variety of public service campaigns. The federal government and the American Heart Association launched campaigns to increase awareness of heart disease and its symptoms among women, as did the Women’s Heart Alliance, which started placing ads last year on Facebook, Instagram, and thousands of radio and television stations. Set to music from Lady Gaga, the group’s ads urge women to “ know the signs ” of a heart attack, which it cautions can be as vague as sweating, dizziness or unusual fatigue. In January, a group of scientists published a study that delved into the factors that drive women to delay seeking care for their cardiac troubles. They found that the absence of chest pain or discomfort was a major reason. The study, published in the journal Therapeutics and Clinical Risk Management , looked at 218 men and women who were treated for heart attacks at four different hospitals in New York before the pandemic. It found that 62 percent of the women did not have any chest pain or discomfort, compared to just 36 percent of the men. Many women reported shortness of breath as well as gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea and indigestion. About one-quarter of the men also reported having either shortness of breath or gastrointestinal distress. Ultimately, 72 percent of women who had a heart attack waited more than 90 minutes to go to a hospital or call 911, compared to 54 percent of men. Slightly more than half of the women called a relative or a friend before dialing 911 or going to a hospital, compared to 36 percent of the men. Heart disease is rising in younger women. “There’s a lack of understanding in both women and men that a heart attack does not have to cause chest pain or these incredible movie-like symptoms,” said Dr. Jacqueline Tamis-Holland, an author of the January study and a cardiologist at Mount Sinai Morningside in New York. How we choose health experts to talk to. Times reporters often spend weeks interviewing doctors, researchers and other health professionals to help report an article. We seek leaders in their fields, watch out for conflicts of interest and try to get a variety of viewpoints. Dr. Tamis-Holland said there were other reasons for the delays. One is that women don’t consider themselves to be as vulnerable to heart disease as men. Previous studies have shown that they are more likely to dismiss their symptoms as stress or anxiety. They also tend to develop heart disease at later ages than men. In Dr. Tamis-Holland’s study, the women who had heart attacks were, on average, 69 years old, while the average age of the men was 61. But younger women are not immune to heart disease. In fact, recent studies have found that heart attacks and deaths from heart disease have been rising among women between the ages of 35 and 54 , in part because of an increase in cardiometabolic risk factors like high blood pressure and obesity. “I think a lot of young women cannot believe they have heart disease because it’s never been labeled as a disease of young women,” said Dr. Lansky at Yale-New Haven Hospital. “Second, the symptoms in younger women are even less typical — there’s less of the elephant-on-the-chest feeling and more indigestion, shortness of breath, malaise, fatigue and nausea — things that are not very specific. That makes it difficult for them to identify it as a problem.” Experts say that more outreach and education is needed to help women and men recognize the signs and risk factors for heart disease. But Dr. Lansky said she also wants to empower people to become advocates for themselves. If you suspect something is wrong with your health then do not let a health care provider turn you away until you have answers, she said. “If you’re not feeling right and you think that in the realm of possibilities is an issue with your heart, then you should spell it out,” she said. “Say: ‘I am concerned I may be having a heart attack, and I want an EKG just to be sure.’ Nobody in the emergency department is going to say you can’t have it. But sometimes they’re just not thinking about it, so it’s good to flag it.” Dr. Lansky recommended that people be as detailed as possible when describing their symptoms, which can lead to better diagnoses. She also pointed out that the Hollywood depictions of people clutching their chests during a heart attack can be misleading: Often people experience chest pressure or tightness because of heart disease, rather than pain. They may also feel unusually fatigued or short of breath in response to slight exertion. “If you used to go up and down the steps and now you have to stop to catch your breath, that should raise a red flag,” she said. Dr. Lansky urged women to join clinical trials focused on cardiovascular medicine. She pointed out that much of what is known about heart disease comes from studies involving men. Women represent just 20 to 25 percent of the participants in clinical trials related to heart attacks and interventional treatments, she said. One reason is that for many years health authorities excluded women , fearing that if they became pregnant or experienced hormonal fluctuations it could influence trial results. “In many cases, our recommendations are based on evidence that’s derived from male patients,” Dr. Lansky said. “In cardiovascular medicine, it’s challenging to get more women involved. There are a million obstacles, but it’s just so important to encourage enrollment in clinical studies. If you want to do something for humankind, that’s a big one.” Anahad O’Connor is a staff reporter covering health, science, nutrition and other topics. He is also a bestselling author of consumer health books such as “Never Shower in a Thunderstorm” and “The 10 Things You Need to Eat.” A version of this article appears in print on May 17, 2022 , Section D, Page 7 of the New York edition with the headline: Are Women Missing Signs of Heart Disease? . Order Reprints \| Today’s Paper \| Subscribe Related Content More in Live Eric Helgas for The New York Times Sonia Pulido Eric Helgas for The New York Times Getty Images Editors’ Picks Dustin Chambers for The New York Times via Dorothy Roberts Trending in The Times Claudia Greco/Reuters Jiji Press/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Chris Lee Callaghan O'Hare for The New York Times Kent Edwards/Reuters The New York Times Jeremie Souteyrat for The New York Times Andrew Kelly/Reuters The Fashion Auctioneer Arash Khamooshi for The New York Times Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT
Markdown	[Skip to content](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/09/well/live/heart-disease-symptoms-women.html#site-content)[Skip to site index](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/09/well/live/heart-disease-symptoms-women.html#site-index) Search & Section Navigation Section Navigation Search [Live](https://www.nytimes.com/section/well) [Log in](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2Fsubscription%2Fonboarding-offer%3FcampaignId%3D7JFJX%26EXIT_URI%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.nytimes.com%252F2022%252F05%252F09%252Fwell%252Flive%252Fheart-disease-symptoms-women.html&asset=masthead) Monday, March 2, 2026 [Today’s Paper](https://www.nytimes.com/section/todayspaper) [Live](https://www.nytimes.com/section/well)\\|Why Heart Disease in Women Is So Often Missed or Dismissed https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/09/well/live/heart-disease-symptoms-women.html - Share full article - 734 Advertisement [SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/09/well/live/heart-disease-symptoms-women.html#after-top) Supported by [SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/09/well/live/heart-disease-symptoms-women.html#after-sponsor) # Why Heart Disease in Women Is So Often Missed or Dismissed New research shows that women may not realize their symptoms point to heart trouble, and that medical providers aren’t picking up on it either. - Share full article - 734 ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2022/05/17/well/09Well-Heart-Disease-Women/09Well-Heart-Disease-Women-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Credit...Charlotte Fu [![Anahad O’Connor](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/10/17/multimedia/author-anahad-oconnor/author-anahad-oconnor-thumbLarge.png)](https://www.nytimes.com/by/anahad-oconnor) By [Anahad O’Connor](https://www.nytimes.com/by/anahad-oconnor) May 9, 2022 [Leer en español](https://www.nytimes.com/es/2022/05/18/espanol/enfermedades-corazon-mujeres.html "Read in Spanish") Heart disease is the [leading cause of death](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2778234) among men and women in America, killing nearly 700,000 people a year. But [studies have long shown](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20598976/) that women are more likely than men to dismiss the warning signs of a heart attack, sometimes waiting hours or longer to call 911 or go to a hospital. Now researchers are trying to figure out why. They have found that women often hesitate to get help because they tend to have more subtle heart attack symptoms than men — but even when they do go to the hospital, health care providers are more likely to downplay their symptoms or delay treating them. Health authorities say that heart disease in women remains widely underdiagnosed and under treated, and that these factors contribute to worse outcomes among women and heightened rates of death from the disease. Most [studies suggest that a major reason](https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000351#d3e3120) women delay seeking care — and are often misdiagnosed — is because of the symptoms they develop. While chest pain or discomfort is the most common sign of a heart attack in both sexes, women who have heart attacks are far less likely than men to have any chest pain at all. Instead, they often have symptoms that can be harder to associate with cardiac trouble, like shortness of breath, cold sweats, malaise, fatigue and jaw and back pain. [A report by the American Heart Association](https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000351#d3e3120) found that heart attacks are deadlier in women who do not exhibit chest pain, in part because it means both patients and doctors take longer to identify the problem. But when women suspect they are having a heart attack, they still have a harder time getting treated than men do. [Studies show](https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/circulationaha.117.031650) they are more likely to be told that their symptoms are not cardiovascular related. Many women [are told by doctors](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/28/well/live/gaslighting-doctors-patients-health.html) that their symptoms are all in their head. One study found that women complaining of symptoms consistent with heart disease — including chest pain — [were twice as likely to be diagnosed with a mental illness](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2825679/pdf/jwh.2008.1007.pdf) compared to men who complained of identical symptoms. ## Women face longer waits and slower diagnosis. In a study [published this month in the Journal of the American Heart Association](https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/JAHA.121.024199), researchers analyzed data on millions of emergency room visits before the pandemic and found that women — and especially women of color — who complained of chest pain had to wait an average of 11 minutes longer to see a doctor or nurse than men who complained of similar symptoms. Women were less likely to be admitted to the hospital, they received less thorough evaluations and they were less likely to be administered tests like an electrocardiogram, or EKG, which can detect cardiac problems. Dr. Alexandra Lansky, a cardiologist at Yale-New Haven Hospital, recalled one patient who had gone to multiple doctors complaining of jaw pain, only to be referred to a dentist, who extracted two molars. When the jaw pain didn’t go away, the woman went to see Dr. Lansky, who discovered the problem was heart related. “She ended up having bypass surgery because the jaw pain was heart disease,” said Dr. Lansky, who directs the Yale Cardiovascular Research Center. Over the years, health authorities have tried to address the gender gap in cardiovascular care through a variety of public service campaigns. The federal government and the American Heart Association launched campaigns to increase awareness of heart disease and its symptoms among women, as did the Women’s Heart Alliance, which [started placing ads last year](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxIvP6YOU1w) on Facebook, Instagram, and thousands of radio and television stations. Set to music from Lady Gaga, the group’s ads urge women to “[know the signs](https://womensheartalliance.org/2021/11/womens-heart-alliance-and-womenheart-launch-national-awareness-campaign/)” of a heart attack, which it cautions can be as vague as sweating, dizziness or unusual fatigue. In January, a group of scientists published a study that delved into the factors that drive women to delay seeking care for their cardiac troubles. They found that the absence of chest pain or discomfort was a major reason. The study, [published in the journal Therapeutics and Clinical Risk Management](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8742618/), looked at 218 men and women who were treated for heart attacks at four different hospitals in New York before the pandemic. It found that 62 percent of the women did not have any chest pain or discomfort, compared to just 36 percent of the men. Many women reported shortness of breath as well as gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea and indigestion. About one-quarter of the men also reported having either shortness of breath or gastrointestinal distress. Ultimately, 72 percent of women who had a heart attack waited more than 90 minutes to go to a hospital or call 911, compared to 54 percent of men. Slightly more than half of the women called a relative or a friend before dialing 911 or going to a hospital, compared to 36 percent of the men. ## Editors’ Picks [![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/28/well/28TAI-CHI-WALKING3/28TAI-CHI-WALKING3-thumbLarge.jpg)The Very Real Benefits of Tai Chi Walking](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/28/well/move/tai-chi-walking-balance-longevity.html) [![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2023/09/21/t-magazine/21tmag-justinian-slide-JOO5-copy-copy/21tmag-justinian-slide-JOO5-thumbLarge.jpg)Our Favorite Living Rooms](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/28/t-magazine/best-living-room-design.html) [![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/03/01/nyregion/01diary-illos-1/01diary-illos-1-thumbLarge.jpg)‘He Opened the Safe and Took Out All the Cash That Was There’](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/01/nyregion/metropolitan-diary.html) Advertisement [SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/09/well/live/heart-disease-symptoms-women.html#after-pp_edpick) ## Heart disease is rising in younger women. “There’s a lack of understanding in both women and men that a heart attack does not have to cause chest pain or these incredible movie-like symptoms,” said Dr. Jacqueline Tamis-Holland, an author of the January study and a cardiologist at Mount Sinai Morningside in New York. How we choose health experts to talk to. Times reporters often spend weeks interviewing doctors, researchers and other health professionals to help report an article. We seek leaders in their fields, watch out for conflicts of interest and try to get a variety of viewpoints. [Here’s more on our process.](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/well/how-health-reporters-choose-experts.html) Dr. Tamis-Holland said there were other reasons for the delays. One is that women don’t consider themselves to be as vulnerable to heart disease as men. [Previous studies](https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/circulationaha.117.031650) have shown that they are more likely to dismiss their symptoms as stress or anxiety. They also tend to develop heart disease at later ages than men. In Dr. Tamis-Holland’s study, the women who had heart attacks were, on average, 69 years old, while the average age of the men was 61. But younger women are not immune to heart disease. In fact, [recent studies have found](https://academic.oup.com/ehjqcco/advance-article/doi/10.1093/ehjqcco/qcaa099/6130732?login=false) that heart attacks and deaths from heart disease have been rising among women [between the ages of 35 and 54](https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/heart-attack/heart-attacks-striking-younger-women), in part because of an increase in cardiometabolic risk factors like high blood pressure and obesity. “I think a lot of young women cannot believe they have heart disease because it’s never been labeled as a disease of young women,” said Dr. Lansky at Yale-New Haven Hospital. “Second, the symptoms in younger women are even less typical — there’s less of the elephant-on-the-chest feeling and more indigestion, shortness of breath, malaise, fatigue and nausea — things that are not very specific. That makes it difficult for them to identify it as a problem.” Experts say that more outreach and education is needed to help women and men recognize the signs and risk factors for heart disease. But Dr. Lansky said she also wants to empower people to become advocates for themselves. If you suspect something is wrong with your health then do not let a health care provider turn you away until you have answers, she said. “If you’re not feeling right and you think that in the realm of possibilities is an issue with your heart, then you should spell it out,” she said. “Say: ‘I am concerned I may be having a heart attack, and I want an EKG just to be sure.’ Nobody in the emergency department is going to say you can’t have it. But sometimes they’re just not thinking about it, so it’s good to flag it.” Dr. Lansky recommended that people be as detailed as possible when describing their symptoms, which can lead to better diagnoses. She also pointed out that the Hollywood depictions of people clutching their chests during a heart attack can be misleading: Often people experience chest pressure or tightness because of heart disease, rather than pain. They may also feel unusually fatigued or short of breath in response to slight exertion. “If you used to go up and down the steps and now you have to stop to catch your breath, that should raise a red flag,” she said. Dr. Lansky urged women to join clinical trials focused on cardiovascular medicine. She pointed out that much of what is known about heart disease comes from studies involving men. Women represent just 20 to 25 percent of the participants in clinical trials related to heart attacks and interventional treatments, she said. One reason is that for many years [health authorities excluded women](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/28/well/live/gaslighting-doctors-patients-health.html), fearing that if they became pregnant or experienced hormonal fluctuations it could influence trial results. “In many cases, our recommendations are based on evidence that’s derived from male patients,” Dr. Lansky said. “In cardiovascular medicine, it’s challenging to get more women involved. There are a million obstacles, but it’s just so important to encourage enrollment in clinical studies. If you want to do something for humankind, that’s a big one.” [Anahad O’Connor](https://www.nytimes.com/by/anahad-oconnor) is a staff reporter covering health, science, nutrition and other topics. He is also a bestselling author of consumer health books such as “Never Shower in a Thunderstorm” and “The 10 Things You Need to Eat.” A version of this article appears in print on May 17, 2022, Section D, Page 7 of the New York edition with the headline: Are Women Missing Signs of Heart Disease?. [Order Reprints](https://nytimes.wrightsmedia.com/) \\| [Today’s Paper](https://www.nytimes.com/section/todayspaper) \\| [Subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscriptions/Multiproduct/lp8HYKU.html?campaignId=48JQY) Read 734 comments - Share full article - 734 * ## What to Know About Heart Health ### Heart attacks and strokes are among the leading causes of death around the world, but there are ways to protect yourself. * - Get Your Blood Pressure Under Control: Hypertension can lead to heart attack and stroke, and is also linked to dementia. [Here are some simple steps](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/well/blood-pressure-tips.html) that can help get your blood pressure in check. - Women’s Heart Health: Cardiovascular health for women has long been overlooked and understudied. [Here are seven things to keep in mind](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/well/womens-heart-health.html). - Is It Healthy to Take Aspirin Every Day?: A decade ago, the best evidence available suggested that the routine use of aspirin by people without a history of heart disease could reduce heart attacks and strokes by helping to prevent the formation of blood clots. But three large, randomized trials published in 2018 [upended that thinking](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/02/well/trump-health-asprin-dosage-blood.html). - Controlling Blood Sugar: People who brought their blood glucose down to a normal level [had a lower risk of death from heart disease or hospitalization for heart failure](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/15/well/blood-sugar-heart-disease-risk.html) after 20 years, a study showed. - Is Melatonin Bad for Your Heart?: Headlines about an unpublished study set to be presented at the American Heart Association’s scientific conference raised alarms about the popular sleep supplement. [Here’s what to know](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/05/well/melatonin-heart-health-study.html). - Most Common Signs of a Heart Attack: They [aren’t all sudden or intense](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/well/common-signs-heart-attack.html), experts say. ## Related Content ### [More in Live](https://www.nytimes.com/section/well) - [What Can You Do About Tinnitus?](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/29/well/live/tinnitus-treatment-options.html) ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2025/05/06/well/29ASKWELL-TINNITUS2/29ASKWELL-TINNITUS2-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Eric Helgas for The New York Times - [A Longevity Expert’s 5 Tips for Aging Well](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/06/well/live/eric-topol-longevity-tips.html) ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2025/05/13/well/06WELL-TOPOL-LONGEVITY/06WELL-TOPOL-LONGEVITY-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Sonia Pulido - [What’s the Best Way to Wake Up?](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/06/well/live/healthy-morning-habits.html) ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2025/05/13/multimedia/06ASKWELL-WAKING-UP1-hmgk/06ASKWELL-WAKING-UP1-hmgk-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Eric Helgas for The New York Times - [New Guidelines Call on Doctors to Take IUD Insertion Pain Seriously](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/15/well/live/guidelines-iud-insertion-pain-management.html) ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2025/05/20/well/WELL-ACOG-IUD3/WELL-ACOG-IUD3-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Getty Images ### Editors’ Picks - [The Very Real Benefits of Tai Chi Walking](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/28/well/move/tai-chi-walking-balance-longevity.html) ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/28/well/28TAI-CHI-WALKING3/28TAI-CHI-WALKING3-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Dustin Chambers for The New York Times - [Did Her White Father Marry Her Black Mother for Love, or for Research?](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/23/books/review/the-mixed-marriage-project-dorothy-roberts.html) Book Review ![The Roberts family at their home in the Kenwood neighborhood of Chicago, 1960.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/28/multimedia/28TBR-ROBERTS-REVIEW-qkvf/28TBR-ROBERTS-REVIEW-qkvf-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) via Dorothy Roberts ### Trending in The Times - [An ‘American Gigolo’ in Milan](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/02/style/armani-gere-gigolo.html) ![The Giorgio Arman exhibition at the Pinacoteca di Brera art museum in Milan.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/03/02/multimedia/02NL-FASHIONWEEK-milan-fczm/02NL-FASHIONWEEK-milan-fczm-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Claudia Greco/Reuters - [Watch the Moon Turn Blood Red During a Total Lunar Eclipse](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/02/science/blood-moon-lunar-eclipse-time-when-tonight.html) ![To best view the phenomenon, NASA recommends finding a dark place away from bright lights. ](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/03/02/multimedia/02hs-blood-moon-ghfj/02hs-blood-moon-ghfj-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Jiji Press/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images - [Two Approaches to Musical Time, From the Vienna Philharmonic](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/02/arts/music/vienna-philharmonic-carnegie-hall.html) ![Andris Nelsons leading the Vienna Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall on Friday, in the first of three concerts there last weekend.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/03/02/multimedia/02cul-vienna-philharmonic-jmlk/02cul-vienna-philharmonic-jmlk-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Chris Lee - [As Kennedy Turns From Vaccines, MAHA Allies See a ‘Betrayal’](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/02/health/kennedy-maha-vaccines.html) ![Derrick Wynne was discharged from the Army for refusing a Covid shot. “He was using our movement to gain a huge amount of traction,” he said of Robert F. 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Readable Markdown	Advertisement [SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/09/well/live/heart-disease-symptoms-women.html#after-top) New research shows that women may not realize their symptoms point to heart trouble, and that medical providers aren’t picking up on it either. ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2022/05/17/well/09Well-Heart-Disease-Women/09Well-Heart-Disease-Women-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Credit...Charlotte Fu May 9, 2022 Heart disease is the [leading cause of death](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2778234) among men and women in America, killing nearly 700,000 people a year. But [studies have long shown](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20598976/) that women are more likely than men to dismiss the warning signs of a heart attack, sometimes waiting hours or longer to call 911 or go to a hospital. Now researchers are trying to figure out why. They have found that women often hesitate to get help because they tend to have more subtle heart attack symptoms than men — but even when they do go to the hospital, health care providers are more likely to downplay their symptoms or delay treating them. Health authorities say that heart disease in women remains widely underdiagnosed and under treated, and that these factors contribute to worse outcomes among women and heightened rates of death from the disease. Most [studies suggest that a major reason](https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000351#d3e3120) women delay seeking care — and are often misdiagnosed — is because of the symptoms they develop. While chest pain or discomfort is the most common sign of a heart attack in both sexes, women who have heart attacks are far less likely than men to have any chest pain at all. Instead, they often have symptoms that can be harder to associate with cardiac trouble, like shortness of breath, cold sweats, malaise, fatigue and jaw and back pain. [A report by the American Heart Association](https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000351#d3e3120) found that heart attacks are deadlier in women who do not exhibit chest pain, in part because it means both patients and doctors take longer to identify the problem. But when women suspect they are having a heart attack, they still have a harder time getting treated than men do. [Studies show](https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/circulationaha.117.031650) they are more likely to be told that their symptoms are not cardiovascular related. Many women [are told by doctors](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/28/well/live/gaslighting-doctors-patients-health.html) that their symptoms are all in their head. One study found that women complaining of symptoms consistent with heart disease — including chest pain — [were twice as likely to be diagnosed with a mental illness](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2825679/pdf/jwh.2008.1007.pdf) compared to men who complained of identical symptoms. ## Women face longer waits and slower diagnosis. In a study [published this month in the Journal of the American Heart Association](https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/JAHA.121.024199), researchers analyzed data on millions of emergency room visits before the pandemic and found that women — and especially women of color — who complained of chest pain had to wait an average of 11 minutes longer to see a doctor or nurse than men who complained of similar symptoms. Women were less likely to be admitted to the hospital, they received less thorough evaluations and they were less likely to be administered tests like an electrocardiogram, or EKG, which can detect cardiac problems. Dr. Alexandra Lansky, a cardiologist at Yale-New Haven Hospital, recalled one patient who had gone to multiple doctors complaining of jaw pain, only to be referred to a dentist, who extracted two molars. When the jaw pain didn’t go away, the woman went to see Dr. Lansky, who discovered the problem was heart related. “She ended up having bypass surgery because the jaw pain was heart disease,” said Dr. Lansky, who directs the Yale Cardiovascular Research Center. Over the years, health authorities have tried to address the gender gap in cardiovascular care through a variety of public service campaigns. The federal government and the American Heart Association launched campaigns to increase awareness of heart disease and its symptoms among women, as did the Women’s Heart Alliance, which [started placing ads last year](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxIvP6YOU1w) on Facebook, Instagram, and thousands of radio and television stations. Set to music from Lady Gaga, the group’s ads urge women to “[know the signs](https://womensheartalliance.org/2021/11/womens-heart-alliance-and-womenheart-launch-national-awareness-campaign/)” of a heart attack, which it cautions can be as vague as sweating, dizziness or unusual fatigue. In January, a group of scientists published a study that delved into the factors that drive women to delay seeking care for their cardiac troubles. They found that the absence of chest pain or discomfort was a major reason. The study, [published in the journal Therapeutics and Clinical Risk Management](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8742618/), looked at 218 men and women who were treated for heart attacks at four different hospitals in New York before the pandemic. It found that 62 percent of the women did not have any chest pain or discomfort, compared to just 36 percent of the men. Many women reported shortness of breath as well as gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea and indigestion. About one-quarter of the men also reported having either shortness of breath or gastrointestinal distress. Ultimately, 72 percent of women who had a heart attack waited more than 90 minutes to go to a hospital or call 911, compared to 54 percent of men. Slightly more than half of the women called a relative or a friend before dialing 911 or going to a hospital, compared to 36 percent of the men. ## Heart disease is rising in younger women. “There’s a lack of understanding in both women and men that a heart attack does not have to cause chest pain or these incredible movie-like symptoms,” said Dr. Jacqueline Tamis-Holland, an author of the January study and a cardiologist at Mount Sinai Morningside in New York. How we choose health experts to talk to. Times reporters often spend weeks interviewing doctors, researchers and other health professionals to help report an article. We seek leaders in their fields, watch out for conflicts of interest and try to get a variety of viewpoints. Dr. Tamis-Holland said there were other reasons for the delays. One is that women don’t consider themselves to be as vulnerable to heart disease as men. [Previous studies](https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/circulationaha.117.031650) have shown that they are more likely to dismiss their symptoms as stress or anxiety. They also tend to develop heart disease at later ages than men. In Dr. Tamis-Holland’s study, the women who had heart attacks were, on average, 69 years old, while the average age of the men was 61. But younger women are not immune to heart disease. In fact, [recent studies have found](https://academic.oup.com/ehjqcco/advance-article/doi/10.1093/ehjqcco/qcaa099/6130732?login=false) that heart attacks and deaths from heart disease have been rising among women [between the ages of 35 and 54](https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/heart-attack/heart-attacks-striking-younger-women), in part because of an increase in cardiometabolic risk factors like high blood pressure and obesity. “I think a lot of young women cannot believe they have heart disease because it’s never been labeled as a disease of young women,” said Dr. Lansky at Yale-New Haven Hospital. “Second, the symptoms in younger women are even less typical — there’s less of the elephant-on-the-chest feeling and more indigestion, shortness of breath, malaise, fatigue and nausea — things that are not very specific. That makes it difficult for them to identify it as a problem.” Experts say that more outreach and education is needed to help women and men recognize the signs and risk factors for heart disease. But Dr. Lansky said she also wants to empower people to become advocates for themselves. If you suspect something is wrong with your health then do not let a health care provider turn you away until you have answers, she said. “If you’re not feeling right and you think that in the realm of possibilities is an issue with your heart, then you should spell it out,” she said. “Say: ‘I am concerned I may be having a heart attack, and I want an EKG just to be sure.’ Nobody in the emergency department is going to say you can’t have it. But sometimes they’re just not thinking about it, so it’s good to flag it.” Dr. Lansky recommended that people be as detailed as possible when describing their symptoms, which can lead to better diagnoses. She also pointed out that the Hollywood depictions of people clutching their chests during a heart attack can be misleading: Often people experience chest pressure or tightness because of heart disease, rather than pain. They may also feel unusually fatigued or short of breath in response to slight exertion. “If you used to go up and down the steps and now you have to stop to catch your breath, that should raise a red flag,” she said. Dr. Lansky urged women to join clinical trials focused on cardiovascular medicine. She pointed out that much of what is known about heart disease comes from studies involving men. Women represent just 20 to 25 percent of the participants in clinical trials related to heart attacks and interventional treatments, she said. One reason is that for many years [health authorities excluded women](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/28/well/live/gaslighting-doctors-patients-health.html), fearing that if they became pregnant or experienced hormonal fluctuations it could influence trial results. “In many cases, our recommendations are based on evidence that’s derived from male patients,” Dr. Lansky said. “In cardiovascular medicine, it’s challenging to get more women involved. There are a million obstacles, but it’s just so important to encourage enrollment in clinical studies. If you want to do something for humankind, that’s a big one.” [Anahad O’Connor](https://www.nytimes.com/by/anahad-oconnor) is a staff reporter covering health, science, nutrition and other topics. He is also a bestselling author of consumer health books such as “Never Shower in a Thunderstorm” and “The 10 Things You Need to Eat.” A version of this article appears in print on May 17, 2022, Section D, Page 7 of the New York edition with the headline: Are Women Missing Signs of Heart Disease?. 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