* Crushing, tight, or squeezing chest pain
* Shortness of breath
* Sweating
* The pain spreading to the shoulders, neck or arm
What we may not be aware of are the symptoms that women are more likely to present with:
* Indigestion or gas-like pain
* Dizziness, nausea or vomiting
* Unexplained weakness, fatigue
* Discomfort/pain between shoulder blades
* Recurring chest discomfort
* Sense of impending doom
According to the Women's Heart Foundation, about a third of women experience no chest pain at all when having a heart attack and 71% of women report flu-like symptoms for two weeks to a month prior to having more acute chest discomfort or severe shortness of breath. These milder symptoms are under-reported to emergency room staff.
Apan Vaya Mudra: Lifesaver: first aid for heart attacks
Bend your index finger and let its tip touch the ball of your thumb. At the same time, the tips of the middle and ring fingers touch the tip of your thumb. Extend your little finger. Do this with each hand. Use as needed until you feel the effect, or practice three times a day for 15 minutes as a course of treatment. This finger position can have a first-aid function when you use it at the first sign of a heart attack,. It regulates many heart complications. In an emergency, it can even have a quicker effect than placing nitroglycerin, the most frequently used immediate remedy under the tongue.
Heart attacks, as well as chronic heart complaints, don't just come out of the blue. Instead, they are an indication that a person's lifestyle must be rethought and planned differently. This mudra can also be used for the general healing and strengthening of the heart. Heart patients are often so tied up with obligations that they no longer perceive what appears to he "senseless" from the outside. They have no time to relax. They also have a hard time coping with stillness. Something always has to be going on, and they often give so much support to something or someone at work or during their leisure time there is no room for their own needs. Yet, it is precisely these quiet moments that are the ones to nourish our souls.
http://www.crystallotus.com/Mudras/16mudra.htm
http://www.womensheartfoundation.org/
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/hearttruth/material/toolkit.htm#facts (some great PDF files to download)
http://www.fda.gov/womens/healthinformation/hearthealth.html (lots of great resources)