BETTERHEALTH

OUR ARTERIES CAN LOOK CLEAR-

EVEN WHEN THEY’RE NOT

P e rs is te n t c h e s t p a in , sh o rtn e s s

o f b re a th , u n e x p la in e d fa tig u e .

F u lly 83 p e rc e n t o f m en w ith th e s e

sy m p to m s h a ve d e p o sits o f p laq u e

in th e ir m ajo r a r te r ie s , a co n d itio n

c a lle d a r te rio s c le ro s is th a t's

e a s ily p ick e d u p b y an a n g io g ra m .

B u t in 50 p e rc e n t o f w o m e n w h o

re p o rt su ch sy m p to m s, th e ir m ajo r

a r te r ie s a p p e a r h e a lth y , a c c o rd in g

to a la n d m a rk 2 0 0 6 stu d y. T h a t's

b e c a u se w o m e n te n d to d e v e lo p

d e p o sits o f p la q u e d iffu s e ly in th e

sm a lle r a r te r ie s n e a r th e h e a rt, says

Dr. M ie re s — an e q u a lly d a n g e ro u s

c o n d itio n k n o w n as m ic ro v a s c u la r

d ise a se , w h ic h is tre a ta b le w ith

m e d ic a tio n . I f y o u 're e x p e rie n c in g

h e a rt sy m p to m s b u t y o u r a n g io g ra m

co m e s b a ck n o rm a l, ask y o u r d o c to r

a b o u t h a v in g an e x e rc is e s tre s s te s t

(see th e s e c tio n b e lo w fo r m o re on

th a t) o r an M R I, b o th o f w h ic h are

b e tte r at d e te c tin g th is p ro b le m .

WE’VE BEEN PUSHING OURSELVES

TOO HARD IN WORKOUTS

T o e n su re a w o rk o u t p ro vid es

su fficie n t aero b ic e x e rcise , h ealth

e x p e r ts h ave lo n g to ld u s to e x e rt

o u rse lv e s u n til th e h e a rt h its

6 5 -8 5 p e rc e n t o f its m a x im u m

ra te (m e a su re d in b e a ts p er

m in u te). B u t it tu r n s o u t th e cla ssic

fo rm u la fo r c a lc u la tin g p ea k h e a rt

r a te — 220 m in u s a p e rso n 's a g e —

a p p lie s o n ly to m en , w h o h ave a

h ig h e r m a x im u m th a n w o m e n d o,

a c c o rd in g to a re c e n t s tu d y in th e

jo u rn a l

C ir c u la tio n .

T h e u p d ated

p ea k h e a rt ra te fo rm u la fo r w o m en :

20 6 m in u s 88 p e rc e n t o f y o u r age.

F or a 4 0 -y e a r-o ld w o m a n , th a t's

a b o u t 171 b e a ts p e r m in u te (206 -

[.88 x 4 0 ]), m e a n in g th e ta r g e t rate

H

i s - a n

d

- h

e r s

h

e a r t

a t t a c k

s y m

p

t o m

s

In th e m o v ie s , h e a r t a tta c k s fo llo w a f a m ilia r p a tte r n : T h e a c to r fre e z e s , c lu tc h e s h is c h e s t, a n d p ro m p tly

k e e ls o v e r o n th e g o lf c o u rs e . B ut fo r u p to

3 3

p e r c e n t o f fe m a le h e a r t a tta c k s u f f e r e r s , th is H o lly w o o d

v e rs io n o f e v e n ts n e v e r h a p p e n s . I n s te a d , th e y e x p e rie n c e n a u s e a , e x tre m e w e a k n e s s , le th a rg y , s k in

c la m m in e s s , u p p e r b a c k p a in , a n d s h o r tn e s s o f b r e a th . T h e s e s u b tle r s y m p to m s fre q u e n tly a re o v e rlo o k e d

b y p a tie n ts a n d d o c to rs a lik e , p u ttin g liv e s a t r is k , s a y s c a rd io lo g is t N ieca G o ld b erg , M .D. S ee fo r y o u rs e lf

a s o n e m a n a n d o n e w o m a n (h e re a n d o n p a g e

1 8 0

) re c o u n t th e ir u n iq u e h e a r t a tta c k e x p e rie n c e s .

S teven List, 57,

A u stin

“ It was

the worst

pain I

had

ever felt.”

K e y s y m p to m s : t i n g l i n g i n l e f t a r m , s t a b b i n g s e n s a t i o n in c h e s t

“My h eart attack happened during my regular after-w ork karate class. About

an hour into my session, I sta rte d feeling funny. Just.

..uncom fortable. This

w asn ’t like me. I w orked out at least th ree tim es a week. I didn’t drink, and I

h ad n ’t sm oked in

13

years. At m y checkup eight w eeks earlier, my doctor had

given me a clean bill of health.

“I sensed th a t som ething w as up. I got an odd sensation in my low er chest—it

felt alm ost like a spasm of my diaphragm m uscle. I definitely h ad n ’t experi-

enced anything like th a t before. Feeling th a t I shouldn’t continue exerting

m yself, I left th e karate floor and w ent into th e changing room to relax. I tried

sitting. I tried w alking back and forth. I splashed som e cool w ater on my face.

“But my chest discom fort only intensified, and w ithin a few m inutes it had

sh arp en ed into som e of the w o rst pain I’d ever felt—like som eone pushing a

sp ear into my chest. By th en I w as lying on th e floor, and my left arm had s ta rt-

ed tingling. T h at’s w hen I becam e certain I w as having a h eart attack. Scared

for my life, I w aved dow n a fellow stu d en t and asked him to call

9 1 1

.

“At th e hospital, a team w heeled me straig h t into th e E.R., ran an EKG, and

adm inistered several m edications. Then th e cardiologist cam e in and said we

should proceed im m ediately to an angiogram to check things out, and th en

m aybe angioplasty or bypass surgery, depending on w hat he found. In th e end,

th ey in serted a sten t, w hich is basically a little su p p o rt tu b e th a t w as snaked

into my a rte ry to hold it open. It w as tru ly am azing. The entire h eart attack

experience took ju st

4

1/2

hours from s ta rt to finish, and I cam e away w ith no

h eart m uscle dam age, no m ajor surgery, and a new lease on life.”