Fran

[Afshine Emrani MD FACC @afshineemrani]

I'm a cardiologist. A 42-year-old mother of two came to my office complaining of jaw pain and crushing fatigue. She ran half-marathons. Her EKG was normal. Another doctor had sent her home with anxiety medication.
When I got her into the cath lab, I found severe microvascular disease — plaque choking the tiniest vessels of her heart, the ones standard angiograms routinely miss.
Her heart had been starving in silence while everyone told her she was stressed.
She is alive today. Too many women like her are not.
Heart disease kills more women than every cancer combined. And medicine is still diagnosing it through a male lens.
84% of cardiologists report having patients in the past year whose heart disease was misdiagnosed by another physician. Women with a STEMI heart attack have a 59% greater chance of being misdiagnosed compared to men. Women with an NSTEMI — 41% greater chance.
The reason is structural. For decades, we screened, tested, and treated women using a template built for men.
Men's heart attacks announce themselves — the crushing chest pain, the clutched fist, the Hollywood collapse. Women's hearts whisper. Crushing fatigue that feels like wearing a lead vest. Jaw pain written off as TMJ. Nausea blamed on a stomach bug. An ache between the shoulder blades blamed on a long week. Shortness of breath blamed on being out of shape.
For years, medicine called these "atypical" symptoms. They are not atypical. They are female-typical. Half of humanity is not a variant.
And the biology runs deeper than symptoms.
Women have smaller hearts and narrower coronary arteries. Plaque doesn't only clog the big highway vessels — it hides in the microvasculature, the tiny branches feeding the heart muscle itself. A woman can have a heart attack with a completely "clean" standard angiogram.
SCAD — spontaneous coronary artery dissection — occurs 90% of the time in women. Often young, fit women with zero traditional risk factors. It's the leading cause of heart attack in women under 50, accounting for roughly one quarter of all cases in that age group. Most doctors have never diagnosed one.
And some of the most dangerous cardiac risk factors are hidden in women's medical histories where no one thinks to look:
Preeclampsia or gestational hypertension doubles to quadruples lifetime heart disease and stroke risk. Pregnancy is the body's first cardiac stress test — and these complications are early warning sirens, not closed chapters.
Autoimmune disease — lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis — far more common in women, turbocharges inflammation and plaque formation at any age.
Cardiovascular disease in women aged 20-44 is projected to surge nearly 50% by 2050.
The youngest patients in my practice keep getting younger.
What every woman should ask her doctor — and what every doctor should be asking:
"Given my pregnancy history, autoimmune status, and family history — what is my full cardiovascular risk?" If they don't ask about preeclampsia or gestational diabetes, volunteer it.
"Should I have an Lp(a) test and a coronary calcium score?" Standard cholesterol panels miss too much. Lp(a) is genetic, one-time, and most women have never been tested.
"My tests came back normal but my symptoms haven't stopped — what's next?" Normal stress tests and angiograms can miss microvascular disease, spasm, and SCAD. Persistent symptoms warrant coronary CT angiography or cardiac MRI.
And if something feels wrong — say these exact words to your doctor: "I am concerned this could be my heart."
That single sentence changes the workup. Do not soften it. Do not apologize for it.
80% of heart disease is preventable. But the playbook has to be built for female biology.
Two decades ago, I wrote one of the first books warning that heart disease was the number one killer of women and that medicine was diagnosing it through a male lens. It was recognized by First Lady Laura Bush at the White House during the early years of the national conversation about women's heart health.
I'm haunted by how much of that book I could republish today unchanged.
The science has advanced. The awareness has grown. But the gap between what we know and what happens in the exam room is still costing women their lives.
Share this with every woman you love — and every doctor who treats them. READ MORE: https://t.co/4LRugiY8q2

[Audra McDonalds Oscar Campaign Manager @_AllThatJaz]

I AM SCREAMING MY HEAD OFF THIS IS KAKWOMWOAKAMSKKWNAJUAIWOKWKANAJAIJWJWJWNW THIS CAST ????

[Sir T Shiimi @Incredible_Tau]

I don't know who needs to hear this, but GET UP. Ask God to breathe His spirit back into you. You've been lying dormant for far too long. Ask Him to restore your creativity, your purpose, your joy, your love, your health, and your sound mind. You've slept long enough in depression, anxiety, overthinking, bitterness, loneliness, grief, brokenness, financial stress, abandonment wounds, relationship trauma, and destructive habits. Today is the last day. GET UP! Get up for your future self. Get up for your kids. Get up for the dreams God placed inside you. Get up and take your life back.

[mira🪽 @kanejhcstings]

putting this back on the tl

[Fran @FrannyCharms]

@OltlD42 Beautiful, especially that 1st pic

[RJ🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ @RJ_maps]

This is the only day you can rt this

[Science girl @sciencegirl]

Impressive

[tequila mockingbird. @_Cordelra_]

This has me in tears 😭😭😭

[٠࣪⭑⃤kn95s at the club*٠࣪ @ipadtvthrowaway]

@AVenusianVirgo @dallasregional she posted a follow up and they called ahead of time the hospital knew they were coming and did everything they could to make this as traumatic as possible

[ehime ora @ehimeora]

On Oya’s day remember to not be complacent about your life. You can re-invent yourself. You can begin again, over and over, until you’re finally satisfied.

She wants us to ask for more. She will create a squall until we release our grip and surrender to the change we deserve.

[ehime ora @ehimeora]

If Oya blows her wind and it knocks your life over, perhaps your foundation wasn’t sturdy enough to begin with.

The biggest blessing Oya gives us the ability to start over and rebuild with stronger materials.

[Fran @FrannyCharms]

@kenthegoodwitch @_modelmorg This is the truth 😂

[Fran @FrannyCharms]

@_modelmorg Elite level player. Can’t wait to watch you and your m&m’s again on an all star season!

[Big Brother Daily @BB_Updates]

RT if you want Morgan to win Big Brother 27 #BB27

[ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 @beynoir]

beyoncé, solange, and kelly 💚

[act iii Updates @B7Album]

Whatever they paid the wedding singer they need to triple it

[Elissa Reilly Slater @ElissaReillyS]

@wlwchoni @RachelEReilly Literally & Morgan is the bestttt gamer we’ve seen since Dr Will & they edit like she’s a cheater- GIRL IS SINGLE & trying to win money - goooo Morgan - play that jobless man

[Typical African @Joe__Bassey]

It’s never too late to chase your academic dreams…