Heart Attack Symptoms

According to the American Heart Association, your body may experience one or more warning signs of a possible heart attack. You may feel an uncomfortable pressure, squeezing or pain in the chest area lasting more than a couple of minutes. Also the pain may spread to the shoulders, neck or arms. The pain threshold of a possible heart attack may be from mild to intense causing a burning sensation within a part of your body such as the chest, arms or shoulders. Other possible body parts are the neck and jaw area as well that may indicate a possible heart attack.

Other symptoms of a possible heart attack include sweating, dizziness, nausea and a shortness of breath. Also, you may have the feeling of anxiety, become very nervous and your skin may become sweaty and cold. You may become pale and feel your heart rate increase. All of these are possible signs of a heart attack and you should seek immediate assistance.

The symptoms mentioned above may be caused by something other than an actual heart attack, but if you feel that it's serious and something is not right, don't wait for the symptoms to go away - call 911 immediately. According to Harvard Medical School, you should try to take an aspirin as soon as possible to see if it will help stabilize symptoms and limit the amount of damage from a heart attack.

Heart attack or angina indicates that your heart muscle isn't getting enough oxygen due to a lack of blood flow to the heart. If the arteries can be cleared fairly early in the stages of a heart attack you may be able to limit any permanent damage. However, anyone that survives a heart attack must take extreme care of their body to try to eliminate any future occurrences of a heart attack. Heart attacks can cause damage to your body that if you survive may be life lasting.

Don't assume one or more of the symptoms are related to a possible heart attack because the symptoms can be related to something else. Also, after reading this article don't assume you're having a heart attack. However, if you experience the heart attack signs and feel a heavy burden call the paramedics. If at all possible don't drive yourself to the hospital if it can be avoided. The last thing you want to do is cause a serious accident and not receive the proper medical attention you need. Have someone drive you or call 911 and try to remain calm as possible even under distress situation such as a heart attack.

Remember, the American Heart Association recommends eating healthy, eliminating tobacco use and exercising for more than thirty minutes a day as well as getting proper rest to help combat a possible heart attack. If heart attacks run in your family you need to seek a physical exam and have all the proper tests to see where you are health wise. Seek treatment for high blood pressure and high cholesterol which increase the risk of a possible heart attack.

Sources:

https://www.health.harvard.edu/fhg/updates/update0505a.shtml

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3053#Heart_Attack