Heart Attack Signs and Symptoms

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Unlike what you see on television, a heart attack is not usually sudden or even obvious. In fact, many heart attacks can happen without a person even knowing they’ve had one. True heart attack symptoms often come on slowly. There may be a tightening sensation around the chest area, or it could feel as if you have a heavy weight on your chest instead.

Before menopause men and women have an equal chance at having a heart attack. After menopause a woman’s chances equals a mans.

The most common signs of a heart attack are–

*Severe pressure, fullness, squeezing, pain and/or discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts for more than a few minutes

*pain or discomfort that spreads to the shoulders, neck, arms, or jaw

*chest pain that increases in intensity

*chest pain that is not relieved by rest or by taking cardiac prescription medication

For women, the symptoms can be very different from those of men–

*Shortness of breath

*Heartburn or indigestion

*Discomfort in other areas, including pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, between the shoulder blades, neck, jaw or stomach

Women may also present with atypical or unusual symptoms and should pay attention to the new onset of–

*fatigue

*sleep disturbances

*palpitations

*nausea

*light-headedness

*flu-like symptoms including chills and cold sweats

Having pain that spreads outwards from your left shoulder, arm or jaw, particularly combined with chest tightness, pain, or heavy weight feelings. Also shortness of breath and sweating or vomiting, particularly when combined with the other symptoms noted here, are all signs that a heart attack is in progress.

Not everyone has pain when they have a heart attack unfortunately, and some people don’t even have these common symptoms. Women in fact, often have pain between their shoulder blades on their back but nowhere else when they have a heart attack, and this makes diagnosis difficult sometimes.

Other types of heart disease and problems can include hardening of the arteries. This disease progresses slowly over time, when you haven’t been taking care of your health properly. The veins and arteries in our circulatory system are supposed to be flexible, strong, and elastic. Over time however, these veins can start to become thick and lose their elasticity. When this happens, clots and obstructions can form in the arteries, from combinations of cholesterol, plaque, and other debris.

These obstructions grow over time to create blockages of the arteries. When blockages occur, depending upon which artery they’re blocking, various areas of the body can become non functional. Blood flow may be blocked to the brain for instance, or the heart, or one of the other major organs. Sometimes blood flow is blocked to various muscles or extremeties too.

Who is most at risk for a heart attack?

High blood pressure is a major contributing factor to heart related problems, as is obesity, diabetes, lack of exercise, and poor eating habits. The following people have increased risk of heart attack–

*persons with hypertension (high blood pressure)

*persons with low levels of HDL (high-density lipoprotein) or high levels of LDL (low-density lipoprotein) blood cholesterol

*cigarette smokers

*people who are under a lot of stress

*individuals who lead a sedentary lifestyle

*persons overweight by 30 percent or more

Learn which risk factors apply to you specifically and take steps to eliminate or reduce them.

Reference: Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease