Every 40 seconds, someone in the United States has a heart attack. That adds up to about 800,000 Americans each year.
While some heart attacks happen suddenly, many people have warning signs hours or even days in advance.
Symptoms include pain or pressure in the chest that comes and goes, discomfort in other body parts (like the back or jaw) and nausea or vomiting.
Chest Pain
Pain or discomfort in the chest that feels like pressure, heaviness or fullness, often coming and going. Other symptoms may include a general feeling of unease or achyness, shortness of breath and cold sweats. If your symptoms last more than 10 minutes, call 111 and ask for an ambulance. Do not try to drive yourself to hospital. Chew a plain adult aspirin (unless you are allergic) to help break up any blood clot that could be blocking blood flow to the heart.
Some heart attacks are sudden and dramatic, but others start with warning signs hours, days or even weeks before the crushing pain you might expect. Be sure to tell the emergency worker what is happening and how long your symptoms have been present.
Shortness of Breath
If you or someone else experiences chest pain or other heart attack symptoms, call 911. It’s important to get help right away, because the longer a person waits, the more damage is done to the heart muscle.
The typical heart attack symptom is crushing chest pain that feels like pressure, fullness, squeezing or heaviness. It may go away and come back, and it can spread to other parts of the body — including the arms, neck, jaw or stomach. Breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness are also possible signs. These early symptoms can happen months or even years before a heart attack strikes.
Fatigue
We all feel tired from time to time, but if your fatigue is extreme and you aren’t getting enough rest, it could be a warning sign that something serious is wrong. Extreme fatigue can be a symptom of vitamin deficiencies, anemia and heart disease.
Fatigue is also a sign that your body is struggling to get oxygen-rich blood to your heart because of a blocked artery. A blockage is usually the result of a buildup of waxy plaque on your artery walls that gets worse over several years. Early symptoms can begin months before a heart attack occurs. These symptoms often include radiating chest pain or a sensation of pressure, fullness or heaviness.
Nausea
For most people, typical heart attack symptoms include pain or discomfort in the chest that feels like pressure, tightness, squeezing, fullness or heaviness. The pain may also occur in other areas of the upper body including the jaw, neck, back or stomach and can be accompanied by shortness of breath and cold sweats.
In addition, some people experience atypical heart attack symptoms such as nausea, an upset stomach or feeling dizzy or lightheaded. Nausea is often a sign that the body is unable to get enough oxygen because of a lack of blood flow. It can be accompanied by vomiting.
Vomiting
Although indigestion or heartburn are common causes of vomiting, if the symptoms occur with chest pain and other warning signs, it’s important to take them seriously. Blood in your vomit, known as hematemesis, is another serious sign of a heart attack that indicates that your body is trying to get the blood flow it needs to survive.
Most heart attacks include discomfort or pain in the center of the chest that feels like pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain and lasts for more than a few minutes or comes and goes. But the pain can also occur in the arms, back, neck, jaw or stomach.
Loss of Consciousness
Too many New Zealanders die or live with permanent heart damage because of poor awareness of heart attack symptoms and delays in calling 111 for help. If someone has a suspected heart attack and loses consciousness, call 911 or your local emergency services number immediately and start cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
Fainting is caused by a drop in blood flow to the brain. It usually lasts only a few seconds to minutes, and the person wakes up feeling tired or unwell.
The healthcare provider will listen to the person’s chest with a stethoscope and may do tests in hospital such as an electrocardiogram (ECG), an echocardiogram or a coronary angiography test. They may also ask about the person’s medical history and what happened before they fainted.