If a middle-aged man complains about having a pain in his left chest that travels down his arm, his family members will rush him to the hospital, screaming “heart attack.”

But doctors are finding out that women with heart disease often don’t show the same symptoms as men.

46.9 percent of cardiovascular disease-related deaths occurred in men and 53.1 percent in women in the United States in 2003, according to a 2006 journal of the American Heart Association.

Women experiencing a heart attack may feel stressed, anxious, breathless or nauseous, and experience back or jaw pain, and not necessarily a pain in their left chest. The words women use to describe a heart attack are more vague and can be easily confused with other conditions like indigestion.

“Women often have atypical presentation,” said Dr. Robert Palinkas, director of McKinley Health Center. “The way women feel their pain is less characteristic. Thus it’s harder to get involved in pattern recognition and immediate diagnosis and treatment.”

Left chest pain classically presents itself after acute exertion.

In addition, some tests used to diagnose coronary disease aren’t nearly as effective in women, said Dr. Abraham Kocheril of the cardiology department at Carle Foundation Hospital.

To perform more accurate tests, hospitals now combine the typical stress test with imaging study such as the nuclear or ultrasound tests, Kocheril said.

“For the longest time, it was felt that women had heart attacks much more rarely than men,” said David Lawrance, medical director at McKinley Health Center. “Now it is known that they develop the disease later, but just as often.”

In the past ten years, the medical field has realized that heart disease emerges in women about ten years later than in men, usually while they’re in their 50’s, Palinkas said.

Women may get heart disease later than men due to fluctuating estrogen levels. After menopause, women catch up with men in terms of risk, Kocheril said.

Although cases of heart disease are rare in college students, there are some incidents, Palinkas said.

Some students may suffer from an inflammation of the lining around the heart caused by infections. This is a more common cause of heart disease among students living in residence halls.

Kocheril remembers receiving a phone call from the hospital at 2 a.m. one year ago, informing him that a 20-year-old University student had come in suffering from a heart attack.

His first reaction was disbelief. The student had atherosclerosis, a condition in which fatty deposits build up and eventually block off the arteries.

“Since then, once or twice a year we will see somebody who’s less than 21 years old and has no business having a heart attack come in with a heart attack,” Kocheril said. “I hope everyone gets the message about eating and exercising right. It’s hard enough seeing older people get heart attacks; it’s even harder seeing younger people.”