Signs of heart disease are different for two sexes

PANAMA CITY -- Sommer Hoyt is very familiar with heart disease. She underwent as a second stress test Thursday to help doctors examine how her heart functions.

The first test was in early September and after getting her heart rate up on the treadmill she had shortness of breath and had difficultly completing the test.

"I felt like I was going to pass out," Hoyt said.

The second test was done using medication, instead of exercising, to increase her heart rate. During the procedure, Hoyt said she felt light-headed and heaviness in her chest. The EKG readings were within normal heart function ranges, cardiologist Amir Haghighat said.

Hoyt is no stranger to heart disease: her mother, Kathleen McDonald, died from it in 2003. At the urging of her husband, Steve, who also had a heart attack several years ago at the age of 37, Hoyt sought treatment in July.

Doctors discovered a myocardial bridge, which is the bridging of the heart muscle over one of the major arteries to the heart. That artery tunneled through a part of the heart muscle.

Hoyt might need to undergo surgery at the UAB Hospital in Birmingham, Ala., to correct the condition.

Heart disease is the top killer of women and one in three women die of cardiovascular disease, according to the American Heart Association. Statistics show women tend to show symptoms of heart disease later and do worse after a heart attack, Haghighat said.

"The main thing is to get information out to women because their symptoms are so different," Hoyt said. "They tend to think symptoms are more anxiety related."

Haghighat said his practice is split down the line with the number of male and female patients. He said that heart disease treatment and especially research historically have been focused on men's health.

The signs of heart disease are different for the two sexes. Men typically have numbness in the arm and chest pain, while women can have shortness of breath, pain in the back, jaw or shoulders.

"We need to raise awareness that it's not always an elephant sitting on your chest," Haghighat said.