Toni Braxton says she mistook 'widow-maker' heart attack signs as grief: What is it?

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Toni Braxton narrowly avoided a "massive heart attack" after misreading the warning signs as grief.

The "Un-Break My Heart" singer, 55, told "Today" that doctors recently discovered an 80 per cent blockage in the largest artery of her heart that could have led to a "widow-maker" heart attack.

In an interview with "Today" hosts Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager, Braxton said she felt a "pain" in her chest but attributed the feeling to grief over the death of her sister Traci, who passed away in March 2022.

"I was having this pain in my chest and I thought it was because I was so sad because we had lost one of my sisters," she explained.

Despite her doctor's repeated recommendation for a check-up, Braxton said she postponed the appointment because she felt "fine."

"Finally, he called me up and said, 'Go.' I got you an appointment for tomorrow. Go," she recalled.

"Shortly after that, I was told I would have had a massive heart attack, and I would not have survived."

Two days after her screenings, Braxton had emergency surgery and a stent was inserted in her heart.

"I was not going to go to that appointment," she said. "You put things off; 'I'll do it tomorrow, everything's ok, I'm sure I'm fine.'"

'Blessing in disguise'

Braxton, who was diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), the most common form of lupus, in 2008, said the experience felt "surreal."

"It was touch and go for a moment," she revealed.

In an interview with "People", the Grammy-winning singer calls the health scare a "blessing in disguise" because it encouraged her to take better care of her health.

"I look at it like it was a blessing in disguise for me because now, putting off tests? Oh no, I will not put off tests," Braxton told People. "If all I have to do for my lupus and my kidney health is pee in a cup, I can pee in a cup. How many times do you need me to pee? If all I gotta do is get my arm pricked for some blood? Oh yes, I can do that. How many vials do you need?"

What is a widow-maker heart attack — and why is it so deadly?

Like other tissues in the body, the heart muscle needs oxygen-rich blood to function. Coronary arteries run along the outside of the heart and have small branches that supply blood to the heart muscle.

The LAD artery is the left anterior descending artery, which supplies blood to the front of the left side of the heart. Of all the branches that deliver blood to the heart muscle, the LAD is typically considered the most important.

“When it comes to coronary disease and the arteries, it’s location, location, location,” Dr. Saul Isserow, director of the Vancouver General Hospital Centre for Cardiovascular Health and the director of cardiology services at UBC Hospital, said in a 2018 interview. “The LAD provides a tremendous amount of blood to the heart muscle.”

“People [who have heart attacks] often have no preceding warning signs or symptoms,” he added. “When someone says ‘I had a heart attack 10 years ago,’ they’re one of the lucky ones.”

That’s because approximately 50 per cent of first heart attacks are fatal.

While a widow-maker heart attack is particularly dangerous, its title is a misnomer; it’s just as likely to be a “widower-maker.”

“When the term ‘widow maker’ is used, it perpetuates the notion that coronary disease is mostly a male disease and that is not the case,” said Isserow. “In fact, coronary disease is the epitome of an equal-opportunity disease.

“It is often fatal and can affect people in the prime of their lives,” he adds. “You’re not protected because you’re young.”

Signs & symptoms of a heart attack to watch out for

Other signs of an LAD or other types of heart attack are the same. They can include shortness of breath, dizziness or light-headedness, fatigue, heartburn, abdominal pain,and pressure, tightness, pain or a squeezing or aching sensation in the chest or arms that may spread to the neck, jaw or back.

Some heart attacks occur out of the blue, while some people have symptoms hours, days or even weeks in advance. The first sign may be angina — recurrent chest pain caused by a temporary decrease in blood flow to the heart — that’s triggered by exertion and eased by rest.

When it comes to survival rates — knowing the warning signs is vital.

“Over the years, I’ve seen too many tragedies because people didn’t seek medical attention,” said Dr. Beth Abramson, spokesperson for the Heart & Stroke Foundation, in 2018. “I literally had a patient who was worried enough she was having a heart attack — she woke up with chest heaviness, sweating and was short of breath — that she unlocked the front door in case the ambulance had to come then went back to sleep. We have excellent health care in Canada but we have to access that care.”

Abramson also noted that nine in 10 Canadians have at least one risk factor for heart disease or stroke. Those risk factors include smoking high blood pressure, high cholesterol, lack of exercise, obesity and diabetes.

Up to 80 per cent of premature heart disease and stroke is preventable by eating a healthy diet, being physically active, limiting alcohol consumption and not smoking.

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