Women Have Same Hallmark Heart Attack Symptoms As Men, Study Finds

BOSTON (CBS) - For years, experts have said that women tend to have different heart attack symptoms than men, but a new study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association finds that's not true.

Women have notoriously received unequal care when it comes to diagnosing and treating heart attacks compared to men. One prevailing thought has been that women don't have the same classic symptoms as men, like chest pain.

But when researchers studied the symptoms of people attending an emergency room in England, they found that chest pain was the most common symptom for both men and women. And an equal percentage of men and women reported pain that radiated to their left arm.

More women than men also reported other symptoms like nausea or pain in the jaw or back, but that's in addition to chest pain.

They say assuming women have different symptoms can lead to misdiagnosis, delayed treatment and death.