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Yolanda Miranda, mother of Mexican singer Thalia, became part of a disturbing trend among Latino women when she died unexpectedly of a heart attack last week.

Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of Latinas in the United States, but because many women do not display what are considered typical symptoms like chest pain, which is more common in men, they often go undiagnosed until it is too late.

Miranda had complained of a debilitating headache the night before her death, which occurred in the early morning on May 27, but the 76-year-old was apparently unaware that such a symptom can be connected to an impending heart attack. Her death came just two weeks before the expected birth of her famous daughter’s second child and a day before the wedding day of another daughter, Ernestina Sodi.

“Women’s symptoms can be much more subtle and challenging to diagnose,” said David A. Meyerson, cardiologist at Johns Hopkins University and a spokesman for the American Heart Association and its campaign Go Red Por Tu Corazón, which is designed to create heart disease awareness among Hispanic women. READ MORE