Tag: heart attack symptoms

How swearing during a heart attack can ease the pain

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 8 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

“Swearing can relieve pain – but only if you’re the kind of person who rarely resorts to cursing and swearing in normal life!” That’s the finding of a U.K. study presented at the British Psychological Society’s annual conference last May.

This may be particularly significant for females, a demographic that tends to swear less frequently than our male counterparts in everyday life anyway. Hubbies, in fact, are sometimes utterly shocked to hear their normally sweet-tongued wives let loose during the pain of prolongued childbirth. Ditto for heart attacks.  Continue reading “How swearing during a heart attack can ease the pain” →

“I started vomiting, and it turned out to be a heart attack”

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 1 Comment


Maxine Levy was a heart attack survivor at age 41. Now in excellent health, this bank executive from Springfield, New Jersey credits her angioplasty, medication and, most of all, her healthy lifestyle and commitment to regular exercise to living well with heart disease.

She tells women to be strong. If you feel you are having a heart attack, be your own advocate, as she illustrates in this video interview.  She also says: Continue reading ““I started vomiting, and it turned out to be a heart attack”” →

Heart disease: “You’ve come a long way, baby!” – or have you?

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 3 Comments

Over the past decade, studies have suggested that almost twice as many women are now aware that heart disease is our leading cause of death. But awareness of this fact is still disturbingly low. For example, when cardiologist Dr. Lori Mosca of Columbia University Medical Center surveyed 2,300 women to measure their awareness of heart disease risk and to evaluate awareness trends since 1997, her results showed:

  • although awareness of heart disease has improved since 1997, one-third of women are still unaware that it is the leading cause of death in females
  • many women continue to believe that unproven therapies will reduce their heart disease risk
  • only about one-half of women said they would call 911 if they thought they were having symptoms of a heart attack, which Mosca said was “incredibly discouraging.” Continue reading “Heart disease: “You’ve come a long way, baby!” – or have you?” →

What does a girl have to do to get her heart attack noticed?

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 6 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas   ♥   @HeartSisters   

Once upon a time, some famous female cardiologists gathered at a New York City heart health media event and wryly suggested it might be helpful if only women in mid-heart attack could clutch their chests, turn pale, and fall to the ground in dramatic defeat, in typical “Hollywood Heart Attack” fashion.

I wish I’d been there in person.

Kentucky cardiologist Dr. Melissa Walton-Shirley was there, though, and wrote about this event, In The Prime Of Her Life.

She described the prestigious health care professionals who gathered to participate in the event’s panel discussions as the “rock stars of cardiology”, each one specializing in the treatment of women’s heart disease.   Continue reading “What does a girl have to do to get her heart attack noticed?” →