We all tend to associate heart disease with men, thanks to avid advertisements showing men trying to eat healthier to prevent heart disease and so on. Little do most people know, including 87% of women, about the high risk of heart disease in women. One woman dies of heart disease every minute. What is even more alarming is that even though more men develop heart disease, more women are likely to die from a heart attack than a man. Nearly twice as many women die of heart disease than of cancer (even breast cancer!).

Sometimes, women who die of heart attacks do not have any history of heart problems. The risk for heart disease increases as women advance in age.

The most common symptom of heart disease is chest pain. Many women fail to recognise a heart condition, because they might not have chest pain. Instead they may feel tightness in their chests; they may feel sick in the stomach, experience pain in the back between the shoulder blades, and have more headaches. Some may even complain of a pain just above the belly button. Also, look out for tiredness, because that is what most affected women complain of.