Researchers interviewed 24 female heart attack survivors who were aged 55 and younger while the women were still hospitalized. Nine out of 10 reported experiencing severe chest pain during the event, but only four of 10 perceived the problem as heart related.

Researcher Judith Lichtman, PhD, of Yale School of Medicine, says that many of the women thought they had indigestion or heartburn."Women in this [55 and younger] age group often assume they are not at risk for heart disease," she says.

Not Just Your Grandmother's Disease

Heart disease is generally considered an older women's condition, and to a large extent this is true.

Women aged 55 and younger account for less than 5 percent of hospitalizations for heart-related causes each year in the U.S., Lichtman says. And of the half-million annual heart-related deaths among women in this country, just 16,000 occur in younger women.

Though the number is comparatively small, Lichtman points out that heart disease is still a leading cause of death among younger women.

"The number of young women who die from coronary heart disease each year is roughly comparable to the number of women who die of breast cancer in this age group," she states in a news release.