Signs of a Heart Attack: Knowing the Symptoms and Acting Accordingly

Suffering from a heart attack or a stroke is truly a frightening prospect and most people do not want to think about it. Some even think that heart attacks happen in an intense and sudden way. Most often than not, this is not the case. Many people barely understand how a stroke can happen. They think that this medical condition cannot and will not happen to them. However, knowing the signs of heart attack and the steps involved in providing first aid can prove to be very helpful in saving your own life and the lives of other people who are at risk of developing heart attacks.

The truth about having a heart attack involves many signs and symptoms. Signs of a heart attack involve discomfort in the center of the chest. These chest pains or discomfort start slowly and are most of the time mild. Symptoms of cardiac problems may disappear for some time, but will ultimately come back and may even be more serious than their previous occurrences. Those who already have experienced a stroke may not be able to recognize the common signs and symptoms of having another heart attack because these indications may be entirely different from the previous one.

How to Detect a Possible Heart Attack
When a heart attack occurs, the first hour from the time that it happens is called the “golden hour.” If a person knows how to detect the signs of a heart attack during the golden hour, his or her chances of recovering from the stroke is increased. And yet, even with this fact being stated by a lot of medical professionals, there are still a lot of individuals who hesitate to ask for help when they are already experiencing these heart attack warning signs.

Most often than not, these people fear the potential embarrassment if they find out that nothing is really wrong with them. This is why it is essential to understand and be educated about the common signs and symptoms of a potential cardiac arrest not only to save yourself from embarrassment, but to save your life as well. Knowing the signs of a heart attack and how to determine if a stroke is in progress will prove to become very helpful and life saving in times of emergencies.

Heart attacks and strokes may differ from person to person. It may also vary from a previous heart attack to the current heart attack. Most signs of heart attack can be associated with digestive disturbances and other less severe medical conditions. However, only medical tests making use of high technology can perfectly assess if a person is really having a heart attack. For example, some women may experience symptoms which are “atypical” such as shoulder blade pains rather than the most common symptom of devastating chest pain. This often results in a lot of women delaying treatment.

Angina or Angina Pectoris
One of the signs of heart attack is angina pectoris. This precursor to stroke or a heart attack happens usually when a person exerts effort in physical activities, when a person is stressed or is under an extreme emotional situation, after eating a big meal, or in very cold weather. When angina occurs, the heart starts to beat faster than normal, and it requires increased oxygen and blood flow to maintain its normal beating. However, if the blood vessels wherein the oxygen and the blood pass through are narrowed, the heart does not get the right amount of nutrients it needs to function normally and smoothly. The pain involved in this heart attack warning sign is called angina pectoris.

The pain that a person may feel if he is experiencing angina pectoris is distinct. Descriptions include a strangulating feeling, a heavy feeling, and even a suffocating experience. These feelings are more severe than those associated with chest wall injuries, spasms of the esophagus, indigestion, or pleurisy. The pain may start from the left side of the chest and over time will radiate to other locations such as the left shoulder, left arm, throat, jaw, and neck. Angina may also start from under the breastbone.

Typical Signs of Heart Attack
The other typical signs of a heart attack are often similar to the feeling of suffering from angina pectoris. However, these symptoms are more serious and may last longer than the typical fifteen minutes. The pain that the person may feel when suffering from these symptoms may be a burning feeling, may also appear that someone is squeezing them, or they may feel an extreme painful pressure in the center of the chest. These pains may radiate up to the shoulder, the neck, or the jaw and may travel down to the arm and to the back.

Aside from these signs of heart attack, weakness, shortness of breath, dizziness, and sweating may also be felt by the person suffering from a stroke. If you suffer from these symptoms for more than fifteen minutes even after resting or taking nitroglycerin, you should immediately seek out medical help. There are cases wherein a heart attack results in a sensation that is usually associated to indigestion. This may be an aching feeling in the center of the abdomen. This causes the person to feel faint or feel sudden extreme weakness.

In conclusion, whether or not you think that you might suffer from a stroke, it is still very important that you know the different signs of a heart attack to ensure that you will not suffer from long lasting consequences. Being able to assess and determine these symptoms and knowing what to do will ultimately help you in times of emergencies and might even help you save other people’s lives.

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