Cigarette smoking causes more heart attacks in women than in men. Risk of heart attack is six times higher in women who smoke a pack of cigarettes or more a day than in women who never smoke. In men, the risk is 2.8 times higher. Smoking is the number one preventable risk factor in women. Angina is more common among women.
Women are more likely to have symptoms of a heart attack.
Unfortunately for men, their first sign of heart disease is frequently a heart attack. Despite the early warning that angina can give, women are more likely than men to be diagnosed with heart disease at a more advanced stage when it s more difficult to treat. Exercise stress testing is less accurate for women. This test is used to detect blocked coronary arteries, but false-positive results in women are common. In many cases, doctors now prefer exercise echocardiography a test that uses ultrasound images to evaluate coronary artery disease.