February is devoted to celebrating women’s hearts. Red dresses become a symbol of strength, empowerment and awareness. Through the National Institute of Health and the American Heart Association, we are reminded that heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women, and that early screening and detection can actually prevent disease. People ask, “What’s so different about women’s hearts?” In short: everything. We love differently, mourn differently, celebrate differently and ache differently. And that is just the beginning.

Anatomically, the heart of a woman is the same as a man, but the way heart disease presents itself in women is often quite different. Men stereotypically have squeezing chest pain as a sign of blockages in the arteries, whereas women’s symptoms can range from shortness of breath to back pain, nausea, jaw pain and often such seemingly benign signs as fatigue or flu-like symptoms. And where men classically have focal areas of blockages in the arteries, making the disease easy to diagnose on standard stress tes

ting, women tend to have blockages that diffuse throughout the arteries. This peanut butter spread pattern of blockages causes stress testing to often misdiagnose disease. Also, the heart sits behind the chest wall, which is often shielded by breast tissue. Men simply don’t have the same issues.

 And, as women are traditionally the family caretakers, putting themselves first is often the last thing they do. Many of the male patients who I see were sent in by their wives or girlfriends, and many women accidentally become patients as I get to know them while taking care of their husbands or boyfriends.

 I was treating a very lovely man for several years. His wife joined him on every visit. We always laughed and talked. During one visit, the wife was rubbing her neck. She told me that she had started physical therapy and that she had continuous pain in her jaw during the exercise. The pain was attributed to arthritis in her neck. She said she usually felt pain only while exercising, but it was starting to hurt at rest. I listened, then begged her to go to the hospital. I knew what was going on. After she was diagnosed with a 99 percent blocked artery and receiving a stent, we decided that she needed to make her own health a priority.

  Let’s all rejoice in the hearts of women. If you don’t know what your cholesterol, blood pressure and sugar levels are, find out. If you have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, a family history of heart disease, you smoke, are overweight or have a stressful lifestyle, know that you might be at risk for heart disease. Go get checked. Be part of the movement to empower women by starting with yourself or someone you love. Female hearts are so different. Many times women give so much to others, they forget to take care of themselves. I’m just here to remind you. Make every month Women’s Heart Month. Now go celebrate!

 Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum is the director of Woman and Heart Disease at the Heart and Vascular Institute at Lenox Hill Hospital, New York

www.forwomenshearts.com