AnnaMaria
A medical warning from cardiologist Dr Radha Kachhy is drawing new attention to a heart attack symptom that shows up far more often in women than men—and is often dismissed until it becomes life-threatening.
The reminder comes after a hospital worker shared a frightening incident online involving a female colleague who went into sudden cardiac arrest while on the job. Before her collapse, she had only one complaint—something so common and non-specific that most people would never connect it to a heart problem.
The story was posted by a biomedical student on Reddit. They explained that the woman, who worked as an administrative assistant, walked into the emergency department with persistent discomfort that did not initially raise alarms.
“Last week one of our admin staff came to the ED after experiencing jaw and neck pain. Eventually it progressed into chest pain,” the student wrote.
Within minutes, the situation escalated dramatically.
“She ended up arresting in front of the triage desk,” the student continued, describing how staff immediately rushed to perform CPR. Their quick response saved her life, and she is now recovering after undergoing surgery to have stents placed.
Heart attacks are widely known for their classic warning signs—crushing chest pain, pressure radiating into the left arm, and difficulty breathing. These symptoms are often repeated by healthcare professionals because they demand urgent attention.
But what many people, especially women, don’t realise is that heart attacks often present very differently in females. In fact, one of the earliest warning signs can be pain in places that seem completely unrelated to the heart.
Jaw pain. Neck pain. Pain between the shoulder blades.
These subtle but significant warnings are often overlooked or mistaken for tension, stress, dental problems, or simple fatigue.
The medical student who wrote the post admitted they were unaware of how common these symptoms are in women, despite their training. And they are not alone.
According to Duke Health, women tend to experience heart attacks in ways that are far less dramatic than men. While men describing the sensation as “an elephant on the chest” has become almost cliché, women often feel pain in more hidden, harder-to-interpret areas.
Women also frequently report unusual tiredness, indigestion, heartburn, nausea, and discomfort in the upper back—symptoms that can easily be brushed off as stress, muscle strain, or digestive issues.
Dr Radha Kachhy, a Duke Health cardiologist, has previously explained that timing matters just as much as the type of symptom.
“If it happens during exertion, it should be taken seriously,” she said. She recalled a patient who thought her purse was causing shoulder pain. “But her shoulder hurt even when she wasn’t holding her purse.”
This is one of the major reasons women experience delays in diagnosis—because they interpret warning signs as something minor, unimportant, or unrelated to the heart.
Dr Kachhy has seen this pattern repeatedly.
“I have patients who felt symptoms of a heart attack and still said, ‘I decided to finish the laundry first,’” she explained. “Time is muscle. The longer you wait, the more heart muscle is damaged.”
Her message is clear: ignoring early signs can have devastating consequences.
When it comes to prevention, Dr Kachhy emphasises the importance of knowing your numbers—your blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol levels, and BMI. These indicators can reveal hidden risks long before symptoms appear.
She also reminds women that lifestyle changes, even small ones, can dramatically reduce the likelihood of a cardiac event:
stop smoking
choose heart-healthy foods
stay physically active
maintain a healthy weight
Most importantly, she urges women to trust their bodies. When something feels wrong or unusual, especially during activity, it should not be dismissed or delayed.
Jaw or neck pain might look harmless. But for many women, it is the first sign that their heart is in serious trouble.
