Women missing the signs of a heart attack

A Hamburg woman is sharing her story to bring an awareness to a disease that kills 1 out of 3 women. 

Pati Matlock realized she was having a heart attack in 2015 while in her car leaving work. 

“I had heartburn and I thought I haven’t eaten anything that would give me heartburn. “ 

She called her husband and told him about the pain that shot up to her jaw. 

“I told my husband this is worse than regular heartburn and as I’m rubbing my jaw, I go, this is cardiac. I got to get to the emergency room,” Matlock said. 

The wife, mother, and grandmother drove herself to the emergency room. Doctors rushed her into open heart surgery to fix a heart condition she found out she was born with. 

Cardiologist JoAnne Cobler with Buffalo Medical Group said many women are too busy taking care of their families and missing first signs of a heart attack. 

“A woman would more than likely call 911 for someone else. But they would not call it for themselves,” Dr. Cobler said. 

Data just released showing women are more likely to get SCAD or Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection. It’s responsible for almost half of the heart attacks in women younger than 50. 

“Some of the symptoms you can see in women more so would be excessive fatigue. You just can’t do what you did before,” Colber said. 

Other signs include low exercise tolerance, pain in the back or stomach, and heartburn. Experts say exercising and drinking plenty of water can reduce your chances of heart disease. 

For more information on heart disease go to http://www.heart.org