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Knowing Heart Attack Signs Can Save Your Life

Chest pain is the most common heart attack sign but it is important to understand that there are different kinds of chest pain. Many people with coronary artery disease suffer from angina pectoris which is chest pain or discomfort when the heart is not receiving enough blood. It normally occurs when the heart is working harder, such as during exercise or physical activity, but goes away when the activity is stopped.

The chest pain associated with a heart attack can occur at any time, most notably in the morning, and is of long duration and continuous. People with a history of angina may experience more frequent anginal attacks in the weeks or days before they have a heart attack.

The chest pain is often described as severe, as if something was crushing the heart attack victim’s chest; a heavy, squeezing or extreme pressure sensation. Some people have described it as a tightness of the chest or burning sensation. The pain itself usually begins in the center of the chest. Then it can radiate outwards and affect the shoulders, neck, jaw, or arms. These chest pains will last 15 to minutes and are not relieved by resting or taking nitroglycerin.

The signs of a heart attack for women and older adults can be different. Often their symptoms present as atypical chest pains. This means it feels more like indigestion or heartburn and can include nausea and vomiting. Women are more likely than men to have a silent or unrecognized heart attack. For women they will also experience shortness of breath and fatigue and weakness of the shoulders and upper arms.

Older adults will often seek medical attention for a variety of symptoms including difficulty breathing, confusion, fainting, dizziness, abdominal pain or cough. They often think they are having a stroke when in fact they are suffering a heart attack.

Other symptoms that occur during a heart attack are responses to the damage that the heart is undergoing during the attack. Anxiety, tachycardia (rapid heart beat), and vasoconstriction (narrowing of the blood vessels) occur in response to sympathetic nervous system stimulation. This results in cool, clammy, mottled skin. The respiratory center of the brain responds to pain and blood chemistry changes by increasing respiration rate. Death of heart tissue causes inflammation that causes an increase in white blood cells and an elevation in temperature.

Depending of the location and amount of infracted (dead) heart tissue other signs of heart can include high blood pressure, low blood pressure, nausea, vomiting, or bradycardia (slow heart rate). Irritation of the diaphragm can cause the hiccups as well. In extreme cases the first sign of a heart attack is a sudden death. This is particularly likely in the event that a major blood vessel is completely blocked.

It is utmost importance to seek medical attention at the first signs of heart attack. The sooner a heart attack victim receives medical attention the better their chances of survival.

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To learn more about the signs and symptoms of heart disease please visit the website Heart Disease by clicking here.

I had an EKG today and it had to be as the man put it “stat read”?

means the doctor needs to read in quickly. He asked me if I was having chest pain and I said just a tiny bit with anxiety attacks. I think he said the test had something to do with the anterior wall of the heart or something like that maybe he said angina. Anyway he said nine times out of ten it is nothing. He was right the doctor read it and it was nothing. but what would have made that test read like something was wrong. should I go talk to my MD doctor about it?

EKG machines TRY to interpret what the results mean, but they are wrong atleast 50% of the time. Perfect example is the situation Ramkot above said that the nurse saw that the EKG said it was normal, but it really wasn’t…the EKG machines really just don’t know how to interpret them well. Don’t listen to anyone besides the doctor, because nurses and techs will usually go off what the EKG machine interprets, which is dumb.

I’ve done/seen hundreds, if not thousands, of EKGs working in the ER and those machines aren’t correct, thats why a doctor must interpret them. EKGs have “parameters” set that if your heart rhythm is outside of those parameters, it automatically thinks it is something wrong. Even so much as breathing can make the EKG machine misinterpret what is actually going on.

Angina is a type of chest pain resulting from the heart not getting enough oxygen. Depending on the type of angina, it can be a precursor to a future heart problem. Angina can often be detected in an EKG.

I assume it was a cardiologist that interpretted the EKG? He would know much more about reading an EKG than a regular family doctor, and would do it much more in depth.

Also, keep in mind that in certain places, ALL EKG’s are “stat reads” regardless of if they look good or bad. EKGs done in the ER are all stat reads, as well as EKGs done prior to surgery. So it may not have been anything about you, but more because of the reason you were there.

Your family doctor can run more tests to check your heart and make sure there aren’t any blockages—a stress test, etc. But another EKG would be pointless this soon.

Good luck!

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