For years, scientific research has primarily catered to men and their specific health issues.

Medical textbooks and studies are authored using information gathered from analyzing men.

By leaving women out of the equation, the specificities of women’s health are often left undiscovered.

Woman in pain

According toFortune, including women participants in clinical trials was not a requirement until 1993.

With decades of catching up to do, women face unnecessary blockages when it comes to proper healthcare.

When it comes to hundreds of different diseases, they are often diagnosed much later than men.

Woman sweating

This patriarchal tradition can have deadly consequences, explainsCedars-Sinai.

Although they are not the same thing, heart attacks and cardiac arrest share similar signs.

As a common precursor to cardiac arrest, it’s important to learn the signs of a heart attack.

Woman experiencing shortness of breath

The age at which women are susceptible to heart issues overlaps with when menopause starts to take effect.

As the body heats up, sweat increases so you can cool you down.

Aside from waking up to sheets dripping in sweat, intense fatigue is another sign of a heart attack.

Older woman holding stomach

Fatigue also occurs due to the exertion of your heart having to pump blood through blocked arteries.

Like most other organs, the lungs cannot function without the heart.

During cardiac arrest, the heart stops pumping blood throughout the body, including to the lungs.

Doctor speaking to patient

During the blood flow process, blood from the pulmonary artery is transferred from the heart to the lungs.

From there, it takes oxygen and flows back to the heart (viaVerywell Health).

Chest pain is also another sign of a heart attack.

Women in gym clothes

However, it often manifests as tight, squeezing discomfort, perKaiser Permanente.

It doesn’t always come as an intense wash of pain.

There can be dull pressure in the chest, as if there’s something heavy sitting on it.

The pain or discomfort is due to the lack of blood that the heart muscle cells are receiving.

This is called myocardial ischemia, a situation in which the heart muscle is unable to pump blood.

About 13 of people who have heart attacks don’t feel chest pain.

The most prominent pain can often be seen in the stomach.

Like other signs of a heart attack, it may be perceived as something else.

What increases the risk of a cardiac arrest?

Johns Hopkins Medicinestates that a wealth of lifestyle habits and conditions can increase your risk.

It’s important to take any medication prescribed regularly to avoid health issues (viaHealthline).

Exercise regularly and eat a balanced diet as away to make your heart healthier.

you’re free to also ask loved ones or the people you live with to become CPR-certified.

Without proper CPR, cardiac arrest can be fatal within about 20 minutes.

With cardiac arrest, the symptoms are much more immediate than a heart attack.

This can potentially cause blood clots to form.