Published on February 04, 2011

Heart disease A Surprise Diagnosis For Many Women

No matter what she ate, Theona Fahl of Davenport always had heartburn. Walking too far or too fast put her out of breath.

She was tired, but then again, so are a lot of women. She kept the antacid handy; parked as close to her destination as possible; and, blamed her “energy crisis” on getting older, digestive problems and the need to exercise and lose weight.

Genesis cardiac rehab patient Theona Fahl works out
under the watchful eye of exercise science intern
Tara Sigona.

It wasn’t until the 71-year-old was lying in a Genesis hospital bed, recovering from infections, that the reason for her symptoms became apparent: She had a heart attack.

Now, she realizes she was lucky to have had her heart attack at the hospital. Before she knew it, she was rushed to a Genesis Cardiac Catheterization Lab, where she received a stent in her heart and another stent in her groin to restore blood flow to the heart.

“When they told me I’d had a heart attack, I almost fell out of my hospital bed,” says Mrs. Fahl. “You see people having heart attacks on TV, clutching their chest and falling to the floor. I had no chest pain or pain radiating down my arm. It was a real surprise.”

Today, in celebration of the American Heart Association’s “National Wear Red Day,” her experience serves to remind women that cardiovascular disease is not just a man’s problem. Nearly twice as many women in the U.S. die of heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases as from all forms of cancer, including breast cancer.

Broken hearts
Coping with other health problems ranging from a broken wrist, rotator cuff surgery, lymphedema and irritable bowel syndrome, Theona Fahl didn’t consider she might have heart disease, too.

“I was having my own energy crisis of sorts,” she says. “My husband, Jack, 75, is very athletic and walks very fast. He has always been very health conscious. He would always say to me, ‘You’ve got to lose weight and exercise more and then you won’t be so short of breath.’”

Neither did she think she might have heart disease nor did she recognize the symptoms of heart attack.

“Women often don’t often have the ‘classic’ chest pain that grips the chest and spreads to the shoulders, neck or arms,” explains Karen Doy, Supervisor of Cardiac Rehabilitation at the Genesis Heart Institute. “Instead, they have a greater tendency to have atypical chest pain or to complain of abdominal pain, difficulty breathing, indigestion, nausea and unexplained fatigue.”

Since they tend to have heart attacks later in life than men do, they often have other diseases that can mask heart attack symptoms, she added. Oftentimes, heart attacks in women go unnoticed or unreported because their symptoms are more subtle than men’s.

“Awareness is improving, but women still do not think of heart disease as a woman’s problem,” Doy says. “They frequently continue activities when they feel ill, either seeing their symptoms as not serious, or not realizing they represent a heart condition.”

Since her heart attack, Mrs. Fahl with the enthusiastic support of her husband, has graduated from Phase 1 and 2 Cardiac Rehabilitation and now attends Phase 3. She likes the security of medically supervised exercise and the motivation and support she receives from fellow heart patients.

“At first, I was in denial. I couldn’t believe I had a heart attack and I had some depression,” she said. “But now in my 70s, I’m becoming an exerciser. I’ve accepted I need to lead a healthier lifestyle and feel better because of it.”

-- By Linda Barlow, Genesis