In medicine (whether treatment or research), male bodies are the norm. More than half of the general doctors in Germany are unsure whether they have already made an incorrect diagnosis based on gender. Only 21% of Germans know that gender plays an important role in the treatment of heart attacks. As a result, women die more often from heart attacks than men. Everyone of us knows the typical image when it comes to signs of a heart attack: a man, short of breath, grabs his chest with his hand or holds his left arm. At least in films we have seen such scenes before. We have internalised the information about the „classic“ symptoms of a heart attack.

Heart attacks are also the most frequent cause of death among women. A study by the German Centre for Cardiovascular Research showed that women over the age of 65 with symptoms of a heart attack take on average over 4,5 hours to get to the emergency room – for men of the same age it takes only three and a half hours. In addition, the symptoms are often mistaken for the menopause.

Upper abdominal pain | Vomiting | Unexplained tiredness | Depression | Back pain | Pulling in the arms | Sweating

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Photos: Arda Funda