Women can experience typical heart attack symptoms such as chest pain, arm pain or pressure and shortness of breath, as well as less "classic" signs such as dizziness, nausea, fatigue or jaw pain, upper back pain, shortness of breath and lightheadedness. Women's symptoms are not dramatically different than those of men, but they are sometimes mistaken for menopausal, psychiatric or gastrointestinal problems, according to WomenHeart, a nonprofit organization dedicated to women with heart disease, which funded the study. "Fatigue and nausea are also menopause symptoms so they can be difficult to recognize as heart related," says Nancy Loving, heart attack survivor and executive director of WomenHeart. Attacks are rarely like those dramatic Hollywood chest-grabbing gasps we often see in the movies.

When asked what advice former heart attack survivors would give to other women, "educate yourself and ask questions" was the most cited answer. Women must take a preemptive role when it comes to heart disease. Of the women surveyed who were dissatisfied with some aspect of their health care, 58 percent pointed directly to physician attitudes and communication styles as the culprits. Specifically, they cited physician insensitivity, rudeness, abruptness (feeling "brushed off," Loving explains) and ignorance about heart disease in women -- factors that can intimidate women from asking lifesaving questions. "When you go to one physician and tell him your symptoms and he says you are fine, you are likely to believe him," says Sharonne Hayes, M.D., director of the Mayo Clinic Women's Heart Clinic and coauthor of the study. "If you have someone who minimizes your symptoms, it could be deadly."