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Is It The Flu? Or Are You Having A Heart Attack?

What do you think the leading cause of death is in women between the ages of 30 and 55? You might say breast cancer, ovarian cancer, accidents or something similar.

Actually, No. 1 is heart attack. A surprising answer to most people.

Even more surprising: a new study out of Yale University shows the risk of dying from a heart attack at a younger age is double in women compared to men. That's right: twice the risk of dying.

Which leads to a big question: why?

According to this study, the answer has a lot to do with ignoring symptoms. Now that's something we've heard before, especially since there can be major differences between heart attack symptoms in women compared to men. But there's a little more to it.

Sure, men typically get the classic crushing grab-the-chest heart attack, but women can get that as well. They just tend to be a little bit more prone to other symptoms that don't seem like classic heart attack: nausea, fatigue, shortness of breath, throat or chin discomfort—just some low low-grade weird symptoms that are easy to blow off.

But here's where the study shed some new light. It seems that many younger women who are having a heart attack don't just throw a major huge clot to a heart artery. Instead, they tend to have a heart attack that takes days to evolve. Sure, there is a blockage, but it's not one that might stop a woman in her tracks.

Instead the study finds that many younger women who survive the attack explain that they have actually  had symptoms for a few days -- and the symptoms seemed more like they were starting to come down with the flu. Or fighting off some bug. In other words, something was just not right -- but not bad enough to rush to the emergency room. Yet something bad was going on. Then came full blown incapacitation from heart symptoms such as severe shortness of breath or chest discomfort/pain.

This obviously poses a dilemma. You don't want to speed to the hospital if you've had a bad night's sleep and you're dragging. And maybe you really do just have the flu. But paying attention to new, hard to explain symptoms is important. And fatigue for no good reason is especially so. As are the other "unusual" symptoms.

Add to the mix any family history of heart problems, or any risk factors -- and a checkup without delay is a wise decision.

The message: it's better to be safe than sorry.

I wish there was a better explanation or reasoning behind all of this. Or some solid hard rules for you to follow. The best thing is for you to be aware of is this study.

Heart disease can and does affect younger women -- and it's important to pay attention to what your body is telling you.

Dr. Dave Hnida is CBS4's Medical Editor. He blogs about the latest studies and trends in the health world. Read his latest blog entries, check out his bio or follow him on Twitter @drdavehnida

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