What are the Warning Signs of a Heart Attack?

Have you ever felt a twinge in your chest or an aggressive pulse? We might pause at such moments and often ignore these warning signs of a heart attack.

Sometimes the heart attack symptoms can occur months before the real event. In some scenarios, you may not experience anything before a cardiac arrest happens. A heart attack happens when heart muscles are not able to pump blood the body demands for survival.

The lesser the blood flow, the greater the damage to the heart muscles. This can be dangerous and deadly. You must assess the risk factors.

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How to Identify Pre Heart Attack Symptoms?

Most victims experience common symptoms, such as chest pain, discomfort, heart palpitations, cold sweats, squeezing fullness or pain and shortness of breath. Others could also experience fatigue, light-headedness, uneasiness, discomfort, back, jaw or abdominal pain and plummeting stamina.

Some people also have silent or mild heart attacks that they choose to neglect. This is also called silent myocardial infarction (SMI). It happens 45% of the time and more to men than women.

These attacks are silent since the typical symptoms are missing. But one may feel extreme pressure, chest pain, stabbing pains in the neck and arm, dizziness etc.

The factors that determine the risk level of cardiac arrest are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, age heredity, stress, poor diet & sedentary lifestyle.

Heart Attack Differs in Men and Women 

According to statistics, men experience heart attacks a lot more than women. They also sometimes experience cardiac arrest much earlier in life. Men experience almost 70% and 89% of sudden heart attacks too.

Heart attack symptoms differ in men and women. Men feel heaviness, pressure in the chest, discomfort in various body parts, nausea, irregular heartbeat, cold sweats, or dizziness. Women experience fainting, chest pain, jaw pain, unusual fatigue, anxiety, lightheadedness etc.

Silent heart attacks are just damaging. Men are most likely to dismiss the signs of SMI (Silent Myocardial Infarction) as regular discomfort quite often.

They often think that this is the direct result of poor sleep hygiene, overworking and general age-related issues. Some common symptoms of SMI include mild chest and throat pain. People also ignore them as heartburn, indigestion, gastric reflux etc.

Make sure you don’t ignore warning signs of a heart attack  and wait until they become acute. If you have a concern, get medical help early on. That way, there are several lifestyle changes you can make to reduce your risk.

When to call 911 and perform CPR for cardiac arrest?

A heart attack is definitely a medical emergency and call 911 as fast as possible. The longer the heart muscle is deprived of blood flow, the more damage will happen.

Don’t wait on and call emergency help immediately. The average person waits over two hours,” says James M. Atkins, MD. According to a study, if 911 is called within 30 minutes and the victim is treated within the first hour from the time symptoms start to show, 8 in 10 patients can be saved.

What are the 4 silent signs of a heart attack?

If you think you’re having a heart attack, call 911 immediately, and don’t drive yourself to the hospital.

Paramedics can start treating you once they arrive and screen you while on the way to the emergency department.

With quick medical attention, chances of survival are higher. Don’t administer CPR if the person is conscious and the heart is still beating on its own.

Performing CPR on a person whose heart attack has progressed to cardiac arrest can be done by a bystander who is trained in it.

This will keep the blood circulating. CPR may also be a requisite if a pulse is missing. Chest compressions are most required in such cases so that blood flows to the heart. In certain cases, CPR is still required along with shocks or defibrillation.

American HealthCare Academy offers specialized and premier online courses in CPR/ACLS/FIRST AID/BLS etc. Be trained in CPR and other critical lifesaving skills. Get AHCA CPR certified now and respond to emergencies where every second matters. How long does CPR certification last? Your CPR certification will up for renewal after 2 years. You can get in touch with us.

Conclusion 

Each year, almost 805,000 people in the United States experience a heart attack and survival rates can increase if early warning signs of a heart attack are determined. You can reduce the risk by responding to an emergency fast.