Warning signs of a heart attack might not be what you expect.
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While you probably know that a tightness or pain in the chest could indicate a heart attack, did you know that back or jaw pain, confusion or a choking sensation can also be signs? Those are just a few of more than a dozen heart attack warning signs that are hiding in plain sight, according to MSN lifestyle news.
A heart attack can occur when the blood supply can’t reach the heart due to narrowed heart arteries, commonly known as heart disease. About 735,000 Americans suffer from heart attack every year, and about 15% die. Some people may experience mild or no symptoms of heart attack at all — this is called silent heart attack and it happens mostly to people with diabetes.
When a heart attack starts, blood flow to your heart has suddenly become blocked and the muscle can't get oxygen. If not treated quickly, the muscle fails to pump and begins to die.
Some of the most common symptoms of a heart attack include:
- Chest pain or discomfort
- Shortness of breath
- Nausea
- Feeling unusually tired
- Breaking out in a cold sweat or sweating profusely
- Sudden dizziness or lightheadedness
Not all heart attacks begin with a sudden crushing chest pain as you might have seen on TV or in the movies. Symptoms can vary from person to person and some — women, especially — may have very few symptoms.
Unfortunately, the absence of chest discomfort often results in diagnosis and treatment delays. For this reason, it’s important to remember there are many other symptoms that might indicate a heart attack in progress, including the following:
- Anxiety attack
- Heartburn
- Back or jaw pain
- Hot flashes
- Numbness, stiffness or electric shocks in the left arm and neck
- A choking sensation
Women are more likely to mistake heart attack symptoms with anxiety or stress and are less likely to report chest pain than men. A significantly greater number of women also reported that their doctor did not think their symptoms were heart-related.
Since both women and their doctors tend to misdiagnose or dismiss symptoms of heart attack, they are more likely to suffer a fatal heart attack than men.
What is really remarkable is that heart attacks are so common and cause so much emotional and physical pain because they are nearly always preventable. By simply adopting five healthy lifestyle habits, you could help prevent any future heart attacks. Those include:
- Eat a healthy diet
- Be physically active — for instance, walking or bicycling — 40 minutes a day and exercising one hour a week
- Maintain a healthy waist circumference — 95 cm or 37.4 inches
- Drink alcohol in moderation — about 10 to 30 grams per day, max
- Quit smoking