Many women over 40 report chest tightness, breathlessness, or a “heavy pressure” that appears during stressful weeks. Here’s the frightening truth: women are 50% more likely than men to have cardiac symptoms dismissed as anxiety, according to the Journal of Women’s Health. But this is the paradox — anxiety can mimic cardiac symptoms, but cardiac symptoms are too often minimized as “stress.” So women end up living in a psychological limbo: scared, unheard, and unsure which signals to trust. Chest tightness in midlife tends to rise when cortisol stays high for too long — caregiving stress, work strain, perimenopause hormonal shifts. The body isn’t malfunctioning. It’s over-functioning. A practical starting point: Track when symptoms appear — after meals? At night? At work? Patterns often reveal what panic hides. You’re not weak for being scared. You’re human for wanting answers. #Health#WomensHealth #HeartHealth