I thought my sports bra was too tight – it was actually a deadly condition
A WOMAN who felt “breathless” thought her sports bra was just too tight when she actually had a deadly condition.
Anna Cupples, who was 35 at the time, began to feel “uncomfortable” and was in some pain but it wasn’t sharp and did consider going to A&E but said she felt “silly”.
She told : “I was an Ironman triathlete, I felt invincible. I didn’t really believe I could be having a heart attack.”
Anna visited her GP and an ECG test revealed nothing and her doctor thought the pain was caused by an inflamed cartilage from a workout.
However, some labs were done “just in case” and a blood test revealed she had a heart attack.
“When it's something so internal and so integral to staying alive, it's really scary,” she said.
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Heart disease is the number one killer of New Zealand’s indigenous population and experts say needless deaths are occurring.
Cardiologist Dr Fiona Stewart said women were dying from heart attacks unnecessarily because of perceptions they mostly happen to men.
“We don’t manage chest pain well for woman,” she told the news outlet.
She added women with cardiac ischemia were often misdiagnosed and told “it’s in their head”.
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Dr Stewart added there were stronger concerns around both Maori and Pasifika – people from the Pacific island nations – women.
They often didn’t present themselves when they had chest pains, and if they did it was usually much later.
Dr Stewart said these women often have reduced access, reduced confidence and reduced referral rates.
She added more lives could be saved if people knew the early warning signs.
What are the symptoms of a heart attack?
A heart attack is also known as a myocardial infarction and symptoms can be difficult to spot because they can vary from person to person.
The most common signs include:
- chest pain, tightness, heaviness, pain or a burning feeling in your chest
- pain in the arms, neck, jaw, back or stomach
- for some people the pain and tightness will be severe, while for others it will just feel uncomfortable
- sweating
- feeling light-headed
- becoming short of breath
- feeling nauseous or vomiting
A Ministry of Health Manatu Hauora spokesperson said there was an inequity, and Maori and Pacific women were at particular risk.
Manatu Hauora had promoted risk assessments to provide estimated risk over a five-year period.
“If this approach is used as recommended, then individuals should be identified with their appropriate risk category and therefore provide a useful flag for risk of heart attack.”
“It is important to recognise that people with ‘low cardiovascular disease risk’ can still have heart attacks, just more rarely.”
Now, six years on from her heart attack, Cupples, from Auckland, New Zealand, said she has fully recovered.
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The mum-of-one, from Epsom, Surrey, had been in hospital a couple of times since, following a suspected second attack two years on, but her condition was manageable.
She said that over time she had become less actively worried about it.
