Many women younger than age 55 aren't seeking timely treatment for heart attack symptoms because they expect the warning signs, and their reaction, to follow a Hollywood script -- tightening in the chest, shortness of breath, clutching the chest while dropping to one knee.

That was the finding of researchers who presented their study to the American Heart Association in May.  The researchers studied 30 women -- averaging 48 years of age -- who had suffered a heart attack. In-depth telephone interviews were conducted with these women within seven days of their discharge from the hospital.

Many of the women didn't know that symptoms such as neck and shoulder pain, upper abdominal discomfort that seems like indigestion, and unusual fatigue can signal a heart problem.  

"We found that most failed to connect their symptoms with a heart condition," said Judith Lichtman, Ph.D., lead author of the study and associate professor of epidemiology and public health at the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn.

She noted that respondents "often said that TV doesn't show examples of the symptoms they experienced.  If they knew, they would have responded to the symptoms sooner."  

"Although young women represent less than 5 percent of all patients with heart disease, this is significant because it still translates to 16,000 deaths and about 40,000 hospitalizations annually -- a number that rivals breast cancer in this age group," said Lichtman.

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