Catching the signs early is crucial in any heart attack situation.
A heart attack happens when the blood supply of the heart is cut off.
This loss of blood supply is normally caused by a coronary artery being completely blocked.
Also known as the death of the heart muscle, a heart attack causes chest pain and electrical instability of the heart muscle tissue.
The thing about heart problems is that they don’t always come with evident warning signs.
Sometimes the symptoms don’t directly occur in your chest, which is why some people cannot right away tell what’s going on.
Some heart attacks can also be sudden and intense.
Others start slowly, with mild discomfort and pain, which we will be discussing further in the video shortly after, so make sure to buckle in with us.
If it’s the former, then there’s not much you can do about it.
However, for the latter case in which the heart attack starts gradually, luckily, there’s something you can do to detect it early so you can take the necessary measures.
Beware of these five signs:
1. Shortness of breath
If you’re gasping for air or feeling short of breath, then you a minute or two away from having a heart attack.
In the medical world, difficulty in breathing or shortness of breath is called dyspnea.
It’s a sign that occurs before or during the chest pain of a heart attack.
In some cases, it can happen without chest discomfort.
2. Chest discomfort
Chest pain is the primary symptom of a heart attack, albeit, it can also take on several forms.
Chest pain can be characterized by a sense of fullness, pressure, squeezing, or pain that starts in the middle of the chest.
Typically, the discomfort or pain lasts for a couple of minutes.
It may also go away then return.
3. Nausea
Feeling like throwing up all of a sudden?
Although nausea is a less common symptom, it can still manifest before a heart attack.
Burping or belching can also come with nausea.
For some people, the experience can be described as similar to getting indigestion accompanied by a heart attack.
Other severe cases can cause the patient to vomit after feeling nauseous.
4. Upper middle abdomen discomfort
A heart attack can also be characterized by pain in the stomach or the center of the upper abdomen.
In most cases, this pain is likened to unsettling heaviness, rather than a piercing, needle-like pain.
Also, the pain or discomfort tends to stay for more than a few minutes.
Upper middle abdomen discomfort can manifest with or without chest pain.
5. Heartburn and/or digestion
As we have covered previously, some patients experiencing a heart attack can suffer from indigestion, belching, and/or burping beforehand.
Similarly, the pressure caused by a heart attack may occur in the upper middle abdominal region, like getting heartburn.
The takeaway here is to pay attention to your body and call for help if you experience those warning signs.
Have you been a victim of a heart attack?
Which of those signs has helped you detect your case?
Feel free to share your thoughts or experience in the comments below.
