Signs and Symptoms

Signs and Symptoms of a heart attack

Unhealthy lifestyles combined with a ton of stress are making more and more people vulnerable to heart attacks. Here’s a low-down on signs and symptoms of a heart attack. 

What happens during a heart attack?

During a heart attack, the blood flow to the heart muscle is either reduced or completely stops. This typically happens because of a blood clot that is blocking an artery. When the heart muscle does not get oxygen-rich blood, it ceases to work.

Some common heart attack symptoms:

• A heart attack often causes chest pain.
• There is a feeling of fullness or a clasping pain in the centre of the chest. Most victims describe the pain as akin to an elephant standing on the chest (extreme pain). It usually lasts for about 15 minutes.
• One also experiences shooting pain in the shoulders, neck, arm, back and sometimes even the teeth and jaw.
• One finds increasing episodes of chest pain.
• Prolonged pain in the upper abdomen.
• Shortness of breath.
• The victim might experience heavy sweating.
• Since the heart’s pumping action is severely impaired during a severe heart attack, the victim might lose his/her consciousness.
• Nausea and vomiting
• In rare cases, as in patients who are diabetic, the heart attack may not be very painful, and sometimes can even be entirely painless. 

Other heart attack symptoms

The elderly, diabetics, people on steroids as well as women are less likely to have obvious symptoms like severe chest pain (as often seen in men). These are some symptoms they are likely to have:

• Pain in the abdomen
• Heart burn
• Sweaty skin
• Unusual tiredness
• Dizziness or light-headedness
• Nausea
• Tightness or pain in the neck, shoulder or upper back

Heart attack symptoms are not the same for all… 

 

 

Not everyone who has a heart attack has the same symptoms. Many a time, we also tend to ignore a heart attack thinking it might be mere abdominal discomfort due to gas pains or indigestion. If you have more than a few symptoms listed above, then you are likely to be having an attack. Get emergency help immediately.

What to do in case of a heart attack?

 

 

• Rush to a hospital: If you recognise that you or someone around is having a heart attack, get immediate medical help.
• Give Disprin (Asprin): As soon as you recognise it is an attack, crush a disprin, dissolve it in water and make the person drink it.
• Emergency numbers: Every office and home must keep a list of emergency numbers like that of an ambulance service, hospital.

A heart attack is different from a cardiac arrest. Do not confuse a heart attack with cardiac arrest. In the case of a cardiac arrest, the heart suddenly stops. It occurs due to an electrical disturbance that obstructs the heart’s pumping function, which results in stopping blood flow to the rest of the body.

Heart Disease Prevention

8 Simple Ways You Can Do Immediately

In principle, all people can take these 8 simple ways towards heart disease prevention. 

Prevent and control high blood cholesterol

High blood cholesterol is a major risk factor for heart disease. Preventing and treating high blood cholesterol includes eating a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol and high in fiber, keeping a healthy weight, and getting regular exercise. All adults should have their cholesterol levels checked once every five years. If yours is high, your doctor may prescribe medicines to help lower it.

Prevent and control high blood pressure

Lifestyle actions such as healthy diet, regular physical activity, not smoking, and healthy weight will help you to keep normal blood pressure levels and all adults should have their blood pressure checked on a regular basis. Blood pressure is easily checked. If your blood pressure is high, you can work with your doctor to treat it and bring it down to the normal range. A high blood pressure can usually be controlled with lifestyle changes and with medicines when needed.

Prevent and control diabetes

People with diabetes have an increased risk of heart disease but can reduce their risk. Also, people can take steps to reduce their risk for diabetes in the first place, through weight loss and regular physical activity.

No tobacco                                                                     

Smoking increases the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke. Never smoking is one of the best things a person can do to lower their risk. And, quitting smoking will also help lower a person’s risk of heart disease. A person's risk of heart attack decreases soon after quitting. If you smoke, your doctor can suggest programs to help you quit smoking.

Moderate alcohol use

Excessive alcohol use increases the risk of high blood pressure, heart attack, and stroke. People who drink should do so only in moderation and always responsibly.

Maintain a healthy weight

Healthy weight status in adults is usually assessed by using weight and height to compute a number called the "body mass index" (BMI). BMI usually indicates the amount of body fat. An adult who has a BMI of 30 or higher is considered obese. Overweight is a BMI between 25 and 29.9. Normal weight is a BMI of 18 to 24.9. Proper diet and regular physical activity can help to maintain a healthy weight.

Regular physical activity

Adults should engage in moderate level physical activities for at least 30 minutes on most days of the week.

Diet and nutrition

Along with healthy weight and regular physical activity, an overall healthy diet can help to lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels and prevent obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. This includes eating lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, lowering or cutting out added salt or sodium, and eating less saturated fat and cholesterol to lower these risks.