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TEMOIGNAGES
Architect from Brest, France

Pascale, 43 years old

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“I didn’t have any chest pain when I had my heart attack. I had gastric pain deep in my sternum and I thought it was bad digestion. I also had pain in my back. I thought it was my spine, which had already been hurting. I tried to soothe the pain with a hot water bottle, but it still spread. I wasn’t worried, but one day I had to stop in the middle of climbing the stairs because I was too out of breath. I told myself I needed to stop smoking. But I never thought about my heart. At the time, I was stressed and not sleeping much. Then one day, I went out to run errands and felt an odd pain in both my arms. It wasn’t my muscles. I felt like something was pressing on me. I told myself it was stress. I took a pain killer and spent the rest of the day feeling quite unwell. In the evening, I had chest pain between my ribs, but I didn’t want to bother the emergency medical services with that. I woke up at 1 a.m. in pain and my daughter insisted on taking me to the hospital. They took an x-ray of my lungs and then an electrocardiogram. And then everybody rushed into the room. I was having a huge heart attack. They did a coronary angioplasty right away and put in a stent. If I had waited any longer, I wouldn’t be here anymore.”

 

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Clémence, 25 years old

Student (Montpellier, France)

My name is Clémence. I’m 25 and I was born prematurely at 7 months with a fairly rare genetic disease, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, sometimes called hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy. A mutation of the MYH7 (myosin heavy chain) gene I carry caused this disease. In my case, the wall [...]

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Christine, 54 years old

I just had a consultation with Prof. Claire Mounier-Vehier, MD, and I wanted to tell women not to be afraid of seeing your doctor whether or not you have symptoms. They will listen to you and share prevention tips adapted to your lifestyle, habits and overindulgences. It’s so important to get [...]

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Hélène, 26 years old

Medical Resident (Lille, France)

I’m a resident in my fifth semester and plan to specialize in emergency medicine. Something I recently experienced during a shift in the emergency department led me to do my thesis on coronary syndrome in women. This illness has been on the rise among women for many years. While men receive good [...]

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