Digns Of Heart Attack

What Is A Heart Attack

Heart attack signs and symptoms in men and women: Chest pain or discomfort Shortness of breath Pain or discomfort in the jaw, neck, back, arm, or shoulder Feeling nauseous, light-headed, or unusually tired.

A heart attack, also called a myocardial infarction, happens when a part of the heart muscle doesnt get enough blood.

The more time that passes without treatment to restore blood flow, the greater the damage to the heart muscle.

Coronary artery disease is the main cause of heart attack. A less common cause is a severe spasm, or sudden contraction, of a coronary artery that can stop blood flow to the heart muscle.

Signs Of Heart Disease May Be More Subtle In Women Than Men

Symptoms of heart disease the country’s No. 1 killer may be more subtle and varied in women than in men, according to a review publishedThursdayin the American Heart Association journal Circulation.

Understanding the differences in symptoms is particularly important for women. Corrine Jurgens, an author of the review and an associate professor at the Connell School of Nursing at Boston College, said that women tend to be diagnosed with heart disease later in life than men, when they may have other underlying conditions that could make identifying subtle symptoms of heart disease much more difficult.

What’s more, a 2020 report, also published in Circulation, found a 10-year decline in awareness among women that heart disease is indeed their biggest health threat.

Causes Of Heart Attack

There are several reasons for heart attack. Here we have jotted down a few common reasons. In Most cases, the heart attacks occur as a result of coronary heart disease . CHD is a serious condition in which a waxy substance called plaque builds up inside of the coronary arteries. The arteries supply oxygen-rich blood to your heart. Nicotine and Carbon Monoxide both put a strain on our heart by making it act faster. They also enhance the risk of blood clots. Several Other chemicals in cigarette smoke severely damage the linings of the coronary arteries, leading to furring of the arteries. If you smoke, you enhance the risk of developing heart disease by 25%. If you have a diet rich in saturated fat, the blood cholesterol levels will rise. This leads to enhanced probability of heart failure. Having poorly controlled hypertension or high blood pressure can weaken the coronary arteries, making them vulnerable to CHD. The higher our blood pressure, the greater the risks of heart attacks and CHD.

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Changing Your Lifestyle Can Reduce Your Risk Of Heart Attack

Dealing with the lifestyle factors that contribute to CVD, which you can change, can help reduce your risk of heart attack. Things you can do include:

• take medicines as prescribed
• eat plenty of vegetables, fruits and wholegrains
• eat a variety of healthy protein sources especially fish and seafood, legumes , nuts and seeds. Smaller amounts of eggs and lean poultry can also be included in a heart healthy diet. If choosing red meat, make sure the meat is lean and limit to 1 to 3 times a week
• unflavoured milk, yoghurt and cheese if you have high blood cholesterol you should choose reduced fat varieties
• healthy fat choices with nuts, seeds, avocados, olives and their oils for cooking
• herbs and spices to flavour foods, instead of adding salt
• drink mainly water

You Feel Dizzy Or Lightheaded

A lot of things can make you lose your balance or feel faint for a moment. Maybe you didnât have enough to eat or drink, or you stood up too fast.

But if you suddenly feel unsteady and you also have chest discomfort or shortness of breath, call a doctor right away.

“It could mean your blood pressure has dropped because your heart isn’t able to pump the way it should,” Bufalino says.

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What Are The Tests To Diagnose A Heart Attack

ECG: An ECG is one of the most common tests. It allows a doctor to get a sense of how severe your heart attack was and which part of your heart has been damaged.

Blood tests: Presence/level of various enzymes in your blood like creatine phosphokinase , CPK-MB and troponin can indicate the extent of damage to your cardiac muscle.

Echocardiography: This test is done during and after the heart attack to check if the heart attack has damaged your heart valves and determine the pumping capacity of your heart.

Cardiac catheterization: You may be asked to go urgently for angiography, which is done with the help of a surgical procedure known as cardiac catheterization. This will let the cardiac surgeon know the location of the block in the coronary artery to help him decide the most appropriate treatment for your heart attack.

If medications fail to improve the signs and symptoms of heart attack, either of the following cardiac surgeries will be planned by the cardiac surgeon.

Angioplasty: A procedure to open the narrowed or blocked arteries supplying blood to the heart. This can be done immediately after angiography on the same day.

: A procedure in which the surgeon takes blood vessels taken from another area of your body and uses them to bypass the blocked/narrowed arteries to enable re-supply of blood to the affected areas of the heart. This surgery is usually planned a few days after a heart attack.

Dont Hesitate To Call 911

Learn the signs for heart attack, and remember: Even if youre not sure its a heart attack, have it checked out.

Minutes matter. Fast action can save lives – maybe your own.

if you experience heart attack warning signs. Calling 911 is almost always the fastest way to get lifesaving treatment.

An emergency medical services team can begin treatment when they arrive up to an hour sooner than if someone gets to the hospital by car. EMS staff are also trained to revive someone whose heart has stopped. Patients with chest pain who arrive by ambulance usually receive faster treatment at the hospital, too.

For many reasons, its best to call 911 so that an experienced EMS team can begin treatment and arrange rapid transport to the emergency room.

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What’s The Difference Between Angina And A Heart Attack

Angina is pain felt in your chest often caused by coronary heart disease. As the symptoms of angina are similar to a heart attack, its important to know how to distinguish between the two. If you havent been diagnosed with angina and you start experiencing chest pain that feels similar to the symptoms of a heart attack, phone 999 immediately.If you have angina and you start experiencing chest pain symptoms similar to a heart attack:

• sit down and rest
• use your glyceryl trinitrate spray that youve been prescribed
• if the pain still persists after a few minutes, take another dose of your spray
• if the pain doesnt go away a few minutes after your second dose, dial 999 immediately.

Angina And Heart Attacks

Angina is a syndrome caused by the supply of oxygen-rich blood to the heart becoming restricted.

People with angina can experience similar symptoms to a heart attack, but they usually happen during exercise and pass within a few minutes.

However, occasionally, people with angina can have a heart attack. It’s important to recognise the difference between the symptoms of angina and those of a heart attack. The best way to do this is to remember that the symptoms of angina can be controlled with medicine, but symptoms of a heart attack cannot.

If you have angina, you may have been prescribed medicine that improves your symptoms within 5 minutes. If the first dose does not work, a second dose can be taken after 5 minutes, and a third dose after a further 5 minutes.

If the pain persists, despite taking 3 doses of glyceryl trinitrate over 15 minutes, call 999 and ask for an ambulance.

Page last reviewed: 28 November 2019 Next review due: 28 November 2022

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Are There Complications Of A Heart Attack

Complications following a heart attack can include:

• Arrhythmia your heart may develop an irregular heartbeat following a heart attack due to damaged heart muscles disrupting electrical signals.
• Heart failure your heart may have ongoing difficulty pumping enough blood, due to its muscles being too weak or stiff.
• Cardiogenic shock where your whole body goes into shock from extensive heart muscle damage.
• Heart rupture this is a rare but serious complication in which the hearts muscles, walls or valves split apart.

These can be dangerous if untreated, but your healthcare team will help to manage them if they occur.

What Are The Differences In Heart Attack Symptoms For Men And Women

Its a common misconception that men and women experience different symptoms when having a heart attack. While symptoms vary from person to person, there are no symptoms that women experience more or less often than men. Women are more likely to dismiss the idea that they may be having a heart attack and delay seeking medical attention. Its important to recognise the symptoms of a heart attack, take them seriously and act quickly to prevent damaging the heart muscle.

• Learn more on our women and heart attacks page.

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When Should I See A Doctor

Its important not to ignore symptoms and wait until they become severe. If you have a concern, talk to your doctor. If heart disease is caught early, there are many lifestyle changes you can make to reduce your risk of further problems: eat a healthy diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables, get regular exercise , maintain a healthy weight, drink alcohol in moderation , and dont smoke.

Why Choose The Hospitals Of Providence For Your Early Heart Attack Care

The Hospitals of Providence has EHAC teams who genuinely care about you and your loved ones. Our hospitals are located across El Paso to provide accessible care to the communities in this city and nearby areas. At the same time, we have received multiple recognitions for the compassionate care and patient-centered cardiovascular services we offer.

Some of the accreditations and recognitions we received in recent years are as follows:

For Sierra Campus

• Chest Pain Reaccreditation by the Society of Cardiovascular Care
• ACC HeartCARE Center Designation by the American College of Cardiology
• Grade A rating for patient safety in the Leapfrog Groups Fall 2019 Safety Score

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Common Heart Attack Types And Treatments

The type of heart attack you experienced determines the treatments that your medical team will recommend. A heart attack occurs when a blockage in one or more coronary arteries reduces or stops blood flow to the heart, which starves part of the heart muscle of oxygen.

The blockage might be complete or partial:

• A complete blockage of a coronary artery means you suffered a STEMI heart attack or ST-elevation myocardial infarction.
• A partial blockage is an NSTEMI heart attack or a non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction

Treatments differ for a STEMI versus NSTEMI heart attack, although there can be some overlap.

Hospitals commonly use techniques to restore blood flow to part of the heart muscle damaged during a heart attack:

• You might receive clot-dissolving drugs , balloon angioplasty , surgery or a combination of treatments.
• About 36 percent of hospitals in the U.S. are equipped to use a procedure called percutaneous coronary intervention , a mechanical means of treating heart attack.

At a hospital equipped to administer PCI, you would likely be sent to a department that specializes in cardiac catheterization, sometimes called a cath lab. There, a diagnostic angiogram can examine blood flow to your heart and reveal how well your heart is pumping. Depending on the results of that procedure, you may be routed to one of three treatments: medical therapy only, PCI or coronary artery bypass grafting .

How Heart Attack Symptoms May Differ For People With Diabetes

Research has shown that people with diabetes are more likely to have silent heart attacks compared to people who dont have diabetes. In other words, if you have diabetes, you may not experience the typical symptoms associated with a heart attack, especially chest pain.

Many studies have been done to better understand why people with diabetes are less likely to experience chest pain and other heart attack symptoms. One explanation is that the development of neuropathy a type of nerve damage thats a common complication of diabetes may interfere with the ability to feel chest pain caused by a heart attack.

According to research , approximately 55 percent of people with diabetes have coronary artery disease. Having impaired blood flow in the coronary arteries is a major risk factor for a heart attack.

Because of this risk, its important that people with diabetes keep their blood sugar levels under control, get frequent blood tests to check cholesterol levels, and work closely with a doctor to ensure their diabetes is managed well.

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Risk Factors For Cardiovascular Disease

You can reduce your risk of developing CVD and having a heart attack by removing or reducing risk factors. These include:

• unhealthy eating
• smoking either being a smoker or inhaling other peoples smoke
• having high cholesterol
• having depression, being socially isolated or not having quality social support.

Other factors you cant change that can increase the risk of developing CVD include:

• having a family history of early death from CVD, such as a first-degree relative younger than 60
• ethnicity Indigenous, Mori, Pasifika people and those from South Asian countries, are at higher risk of heart disease
• being a post-menopausal woman.

Preventing Heart Attacks By Understanding Cardiovascular Risks

Do you know that heart attacks have “beginnings” that can occur days or weeks before an actual attack? It is important to recognize these beginnings, with the help of an EHAC doctor, to help prevent the actual attack and its potential health consequences. People often mistake the early warning signs of a heart attack, such as chest pain, for heartburn or pulled a muscle. The unfortunate outcome is that many people wait too long before getting help.

At The Hospitals of Providence, we have an EHAC program delivered by a team of cardiologists, nurses and staff who are dedicated to helping men and women recognize the early warning signs of a heart attack. We provide care and treatment options for these signs and help prevent the emergency from happening.

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When Should You Call 911 For A Heart Problem

At certain times, calling 911 right away is a must. If youre having chest pressure or chest tightness that started that day, you should not wait to go to your general practitioner, says Dr. Cho. Go to the emergency room.

You should also call 911 and get help right away if you have chest pain or discomfort along with any of the following symptoms, especially if they last longer than five minutes:

• Pain or discomfort in other areas of the upper body, including the arms, left shoulder, back, neck, jaw, or stomach.
• Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath.
• Sweating or cold sweat.
• Light-headedness, dizziness, extreme weakness or anxiety.
• Rapid or irregular heartbeats.

What’s The Difference Between A Cardiac Arrest And A Heart Attack

The phrases cardiac arrest and heart attack are often confused, however are different.If youre having a cardiac arrest you will be unconscious, not breathing or not breathing normally. Your heart has stopped pumping blood around your body and youll need CPR and medical attention immediately. During a heart attack you’ll be conscious and breathing, but experiencing chest pain or discomfort.A heart attack is a medical emergency and can lead to cardiac arrest so its important to seek medical attention straight away.

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Other Potential Heart Attack Signs

Heart attack signs look different for everyone, although there are a few common ones to watch for.

• Neck, jaw, arm, and back pain: Pain radiating to your jaw, back, neck, or arms may signal a heart condition, especially if the origin is hard to pinpoint. For example, you might feel pain, but no specific muscle or joint aches. If the discomfort begins or worsens when you are exerting yourself, and then stops when you quit exercising, you should also get it checked out.

• Unexpected sweating: During menopause, many women experience hot flashes. However, sudden or excessive sweating associated with other symptoms such as nausea or chest pressure can also be a heart attack sign. Stress sweat when there is no real cause for stress, or sweating or shortness of breath accompanied by other symptoms, such as chest pain or fatigue, can be cause for concern.

• Chest pain: Chest pain/pressure is a very common heart attack sign, but can feel different than you might think. We need to dig deeper into the symptom of chest pain for both men and women as it relates to heart attacks, Dr. Cho says. It is seldom as dramatic as you might think, and it can feel like pressure or heart burn that comes on over time.

Heart Attack Is A Medical Emergency

Call triple zero for an ambulance if you or someone you are with experiences the warning signs of heart attack.

Its important to call triple zero, because:

• The trained operator will decide if you need an ambulance.
• You will receive treatment as soon as you phone.
• You will receive advice on what to do while waiting for the ambulance to arrive.

Ambulance paramedics are trained to use special lifesaving equipment and to start early treatments for heart attack inside the ambulance. Early treatment can reduce the damage to your heart.

The ambulance is the safest and fastest way to get you to hospital. It gets you medical attention straight away.

Do not drive yourself to the hospital. This is dangerous for you and other road users.

If you live in a remote region and an ambulance is not available, make sure someone else drives you.

Its always better to go to hospital and be told its not a heart attack than to stay at home until its too late. Ignoring the warning signs can result in permanent damage to your heart muscle.

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