Strong, but so fragile...

Hospitalization for myocardial infarction among women aged 45 to 54 in France is rising by 5% a year. They are being affected at younger and younger ages, from their forties onwards, a consequence of their changing lifestyles, which have led them to adopt the bad habits of men: smoking, sedentary lifestyle, overweight, stress...
Here's what they have to say.
Isabelle: "I was able to save one of my friends. Aged 60, smoker, divorced, with stress at work, she regularly complained of a diffuse pain in her back that radiated to her arms, and stomach pains. I help her find an appointment for a cardiac check-up. Abnormal test. Immediately transferred to hospital, she was in the process of having a heart attack.
Carole: "I felt oppressed and had cramps in my shoulders and shoulder blades. I also had stomach pains. As I drove past a hospital, I asked my husband to stop. Maybe it was my survival instinct. I was in the middle of a heart attack."
Sabrina: "At 3.15am, I woke up suddenly with a pain in the middle of my back and a stomach ache. I swallow a dose of Bach flowers, telling myself it's going to be all right... But it's not... EMS, hospital, blood test, electrocardiogram, it all comes together... I'm told it's probably all an anxiety attack... But the blood results come back: you're having a heart attack, lady!"
Katherine: "One day, I'm seized by a violent pain in my left arm, the power of a thousand, then in my chest, preventing me from breathing, in my neck, then my jaw and the top of my skull... I'm forced to sit on the sidewalk. I go for tests and end up in hospital, I'm having a heart attack."
To read the full stories, and many more...


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