Heartache After Heart Attacks for Women, Survey Shows

(Ozan Ozan)

Women now have to worry about protecting their heart from more than just their love lives.

New data from a recent Gallup Poll shows that suffering a heart attack takes a great emotional toll on women than men.

Using an Emotional Health Index, the survey found women overwhelmingly experienced more negative emotions and were also more likely to be diagnosed with depression after a heart attack.

Gallup’s Emotional Health Index looks at 10 different items that contribute to a person’s emotional health including among others smiling, laughter, being treated with respect, enjoyment, worry, anger, and stress.

30 percent of Latinas over the age of 20 suffer from cardiovascular disease which in many cases can lead to a heart attack.

Latinas, whether they have suffered from a heart attack or not, are also more likely to experience feelings of sadness, hopelessness, or worthlessness, the CDC reports.

To prevent Latinas from experiencing unnecessary emotional turmoil the best place to start is to prevent having a heart attack in the first place.

Along with maintaining a healthy lifestyle, it is also important for Latinas to recognize all the signs of a heart attack.

“We are missing heart attacks in women ,” Dr. Juan Rivera, a cardiologist from Miami, told Fox News Latino.

“Women don’t tend to recognize their symptoms as being a heart attack.”

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 64 percent of women who die suddenly of coronary heart disease have no previous symptoms.

Aside from chest pains and shortness of breath, symptoms commonly known as sign of a heart attack, unusual tiredness, having trouble sleeping, indigestion, and anxiety are also signals.