You can save a life – perhaps your own life, if you learn the signs of a heart attack & what steps to take. By knowing 7 signs of Heart attack, you will be able to act quickly & calmly, if your family members, friends or colleague suffers from heart attack.
7 signs of heart attack
Symptoms of Heart attack:
- Angina – Most common symptoms is angina or chest pain. Angina can be described as discomfort, pressure, heaviness, aching, and painful feeling in your chest. Angina may also be felt in the shoulders, arms, neck, throat, jaw or back
- Chest pain which is not relieved with rest or taking Sorbitrate tablet
- Uneasiness , profuse sweating
- Shortness of breath
- Fear of impending death
- Nausea, vomiting
- Extreme weakness, dizziness, and in some serious cases loss of consciousness
The Bad News:
During a heart attack, a clot blocks the flow of blood to the heart. Heart muscle begins to die. The more time that passes without treatment, greater the damage. Maximum deaths due to heart attack occur in first hour of onset of chest pain
The Good news:
Fortunately, clot dissolving drugs ( Thrombolytics ) along with other artery- opening treatments can save a life from heart attack . Given immediately after symptoms begin, these treatments can prevent or limit damage to the heart. The sooner they are started, the more good they will do & the greater the chance are of full recovery. To the most effective, these treatments need to be given within 1 hour of the start of heart attack symptoms. This is commoly called as Time is Muscle in medical terminology , early the dose, more heart muscle is saved from damage .
Still we see some common reasons for delay in treatment such as:
- Self Diagnosis – Do not recognize the symptoms of a heart attack & think that what they are feeling is due to something else like acidity, muscular pain etc.
- They are not accepting that their symptoms could be serious.
- Feeling embarrassed about “causing a scene”, or going to the hospital & finding out it is a false alarm.
- Worried to diagnose a heart attack.
- Do not understand the importance of getting to the hospital right away.
- Ignore the complaints as their hectic work schedule, imp meetings.
As a result, most heart attack victims wait 2 or more hours after their symptoms begin before they seek medical help.
This delay can result in death or permanent heart damage – damage that can greatly reduce their ability to do everyday activities. We will discuss in detail about common tests and treatment options which are available to heart attack cases in subsequent series.
You may also like to read:
Dietary Tips to avoid Heart Attack
