According to recent studies regarding heart attacks and strokes, women from Massachusetts and across the country are misdiagnosed more commonly than men are. This is largely because the symptoms women have are different from those of men.
Heart attack symptoms for women often lead to a misdiagnosis
Rather than experiencing common chest pains that most men feel during a heart attack, about 60 percent of female heart-attack victims have more than three other kinds of symptoms, compared to about 55 percent of male heart-attack victims, according to findings by the American Heart Association. These symptoms include:
• Dizziness
• Shortness of breath
• Nausea
• Stomach pain
• Chest palpitations
• Nausea and vomiting
Because symptoms might not seem to be serious, women experiencing them may not perceive they are associated with a heart attack. Therefore, doctors or other healthcare professionals may give an incorrect diagnosis when treating women who have these common symptoms, which can lead to a delay in urgently needed treatment.
Facts about why female stroke victims are commonly misdiagnosed
When it comes to women and strokes, a study done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2014 revealed that because women often have different stroke symptoms than male stroke victims, many received a misdiagnosis at emergency rooms. Some of the symptoms that women often experience when suffering a stroke are as follows:
• Hallucination
• Seizures
• Dizziness
• General weakness
• A headache
• Nausea or vomiting
• Disorientation
• A loss of consciousness
• Hiccups
• Difficulty breathing
How to hold a liable party responsible for damages
Patients who have severely suffered physically and financially because of a misdiagnosis might wish to contact the knowledgeable and reputable law firm of Ross & Ross regarding filing a medical malpractice suit. Our law firm believes that medical practitioners who misdiagnose a patient should be held responsible for their actions, and we have the experience to successfully litigate on the behalf of our clients.
