Symptoms Of Heart Trouble

Am I having a heart attack? The tell-tale signs are not always there

Heart disease is the leading killer of Americans, according to the American Heart Association, but it isn’t always easy to tell if you’re having a heart attack.

Jackson resident Barb Eley, 79, had no warning signs. But annual visits to her doctor’s office revealed she had high cholesterol and, later, a rapid heart beat. Despite being treated with medication and wearing a heart monitor, in June 2010, she underwent bypass surgery.

“I wasn’t having any symptoms,” Eley says. “I just went into the doctor, and he called the ambulance and they came right to his office and they took me to the hospital.”
Her doctor knew her parents died of heart attacks — her dad at age 90 and mother at 79 — both without noticeable symptoms.

“Keep up with those (annual) checkups,” Eley says. “I was lucky all the way around.”
Typically, a heart attack occurs when a blood clot blocks the blood flow to the heart, according to the Mayo Clinic. This blockage usually happens when one or more coronary arteries narrow due to unhealthy lifestyle, lack of exercise or high stress, to name a few.

Know the symptoms

Symptoms typical of a heart attack include sweating, nausea, shortness of breath, dizziness, anxiety and nausea. The most prominent symptom is a squeezing chest pain, that can extend into the neck or down to the left or right arm and last a few minutes at a time.

However, chest pain isn’t always the most prominent symptom among women.

“(Women) may not have the same classic symptoms,” says Dr. Cathy Glick, cardiologist at Michigan Heart in Jackson. “They are still symptoms that are not normal to them.”
Women might experience none, a few or all of the typical symptoms, while men usually experience classic symptoms.

Don’t wait, call 911

“If they have those symptoms, they should unlock the front door, call 911 and sit down and wait for paramedics,” Glick says, adding they should chew — not swallow — four baby aspirin or one 325 milligrams of adult aspirin.


“The longer they wait before they get into the emergency room, the more damage they have, so the time factor is critical,” Glick says.

Heart cells die during a heart attack, says Dr. Mark Smith, medical director of Emergency and Express Care at Allegiance Health.

Warning Signs of a Heart Attack in Women : : Watching the Void

While some women are concerning themselves with paternity Tests and the implication of such many others are worried about being at risk for, and the signs of heart attack.

Current research has shown that women are at a higher risk of getting heart attacks than men. Women experiencing premenopausal symptoms are at a lower risk for attacks if they are not affected by diabetes, blood pressure and certain bad habits like smoking.

Heart attacks in women often show some symptoms prior to the attack. They might spend sleepless nights and undergo continuous vomiting or nausea. They experience serious chest pains that seem to go up to the shoulders causing discomfort. They may also develop sudden weakness that persists.

Women who are likely to get heart attacks usually discontinue their participation in regular household duties. Sometimes they might experience abrupt unconsciousness as well as an increased heart rate. Many women also feel a persistent numbness in their legs, face, or arm, and which also seems to be on one side of the body.

They may also experience trouble or great difficulty understanding or speaking, and also some confusion. There may be difficulty seeing in both eyes or one eye. A severe headache that seems without cause is also typical.

Annually, it is estimated that 16 000 females die from heart attacks. Today, a variety of young women are being hospitalized due to chronic heart diseases. Most of these young women were unable to identify the symptoms, therefore succumbed to death. Only few women admitted to hospitals were able to analyze that there is something wrong with their hearts.

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