Women smoke, eat high cholesterol diets, and get insufficient exercise. There are also hormonal causes. Not enough estrogen puts a strain on the heart. Some of the problems with getting early treatment for a heart attack is that women who are having one don't always have the same symptoms as a man would. The other reason woman are more likely to die from heart disease is that the medical world still doesn't always take a woman's complaints seriously.
Many women go in to seek help from a doctor only to be sent home or misdiagnosed.
There has been more awareness to this issue recently. Some doctors in the medical field still have the misconception that heart disease is not a problem in women, therefore rule out heart disease before even giving it a consideration. Some of the less common signs are stomach or abdominal pain that can seem like heartburn but doesn't go away with antacids. Women are at a higher risk of dying from heart disease than men. Find out why.