Ohio State Cardiologist Honored For Women’s Health Research

A cardiologist is being honored for her research involving women’s health, 10TV’s Andrea Cambern reported on Friday.

Martha Gulati, a doctor at The Ohio State University Medical Center, said that she wanted to spread the word that heart attacks can look and act much different in woman than they do in men.

Forty percent of the time, there’s no trademark chest pain, Gulati said.

“They might have fatigue that is sudden onset,” Gulati said. “They may have back pain. They may have jaw pain. They may have shoulder pain, without actually any chest pain at all,” Gulati said.

Tammy Collins, a patient of Gulati’s, said that she knew this well.

Last September, while celebrating her anniversary out of town, she had a restless night, Cambern reported.

“I got really severe back pain, and then after that, I had difficulty breathing,” Collins said. “So then I woke my husband up and said, ‘We need to call the squad.’”

Gulati said that Collins did the right thing, and said that more women need to call for help when they feel similar symptoms.

“Not wait and get the laundry done, not wait and do things around the house or even drive yourself to the emergency room,” Gulati said. “You’ve got to call 911.”

Collins currently is in rehab and is recovering from her close call, Cambern reported.

“I tell people to listen to their bodies,” Collins said. “If something doesn’t feel right, it’s best to go to the hospital.”

Gulati said that doctors need to provide more education to patients, too.

“Sometimes, physicians will not even recognize that a woman’s at risk or that they’re having a heart attack, partially because their symptoms might be different and also because we still think of this as a man’s disease,” Gulati said.

Gulati said that some drugs react different in men than they do in women.

Gulati will be honored later in February with a national award that has yet to be announced.

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