Heart Attack Signs

Overview

Being aware of early heart attack symptoms can save your life. The faster you react when you suspect you're having a heart attack, the less damage there will be to your heart.

Some heart attack symptoms include pain; however, not all heart pain indicates a heart problem. Arm pain, in addition to chest pain, is one of the most common heart attack warning signs. The pain during heart attack will generally start in the chest and radiate down the arm. If the pain only flares up while coughing, a heart attack probably isn't the cause of the pain. A heart attack typically causes pain that can't easily be relieved by simply not coughing or resting.

Heart attacks often cause different symptoms in women. Usually, heart attack signs in women do not include chest or arm pain. Sometimes, tightness and pain in the neck or jaw are symptoms of heart attack. Heart attacks kill women more often than men, perhaps because they don't recognize the first sign of heart attack. Early symptoms in women are mild and in some cases, women have heart attacks without a single recognizable symptom.

A mild heart attack can cause almost no damage at all. A silent heart attack like this can still prove deadly because with each minor attack, the risk of major heart attack increases.

The best way to never have to deal with heart attack pain is to avoid major risk factors. Experts link smoking, high blood pressure, and stress with heart attack risk. Such factors also put you at risk of other conditions including heart disease and stroke. Other key factors include obesity, heavy alcohol use, high cholesterol, and a sedentary lifestyle. One of the biggest risk factors of heart attack is hereditary; as a result, if you have a family history of heart problems, you should be more careful.

Failure to diagnose a heart attack used to be a much bigger problem than it is now. Now, when doctors suspect a heart attack, they usually conduct a blood test to test your heart and its efficiency. If a certain substance is present, a heart attack is indicated. Once you've had the attack, the damage is done. Therefore, prevention is the best way to improve your heart condition.

Resources

For additional resources regarding heart condition and heart attacks signs, visit the following websites:

• NHLBI Gov
• Wikipedia
• American Heart