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Chest pain or pressure under the breastbone, which may radiate down the left arm, up into the jawbone or through the body to the back is a classic sign of a heart attack. These signs should be familiar to everyone. They are not warnings, they are the real thing. There are, however, other signs, warnings if you will, that might just save your life. According to statistics, about two thirds of heart attack victims have certain symptoms days and weeks prior to their attack. They may feel very weak and tired, have shortness of breath and suffer brief episodes of chest discomfort that comes and passes. There are some who suffer mild chest pain and dismiss it as gastric distress, heartburn or anxiety. Older patients will present more with shortness of breath than the usual pressure on the chest or actual pain. Then there are about 20% or heart attack victims that suffer no pain whatsoever. Attacks that are painless are called silent attacks. Much of the damage done to a heart occurs in the first 60 minutes. Delay in getting to a hospital during that critical time could result in severe debilitating damage to the heart muscle or death. Summoning an ambulance right away when experiencing the symptoms of an attack is of utmost importance. Unfortunately, half those people suffering an attack usually wait two hours and longer before calling for help. Early Treatment is Crucial Statistically, more than 1.5 million people suffer from heart attacks each year. A Heart Attack Myocardial Infarction is normally caused by a decreased blood flow to the heart resulting in very little or no oxygen reaching the muscle which is the cause of tissue damage. In most cases, atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries precedes the attack Atherosclerosis is the depositing of plaques on the arterial walls which restrict the flow of blood by narrowing the channel through which the fluid must flow. If narrow enough, the blood cells will agglutinate or collect in a bunch, clogging the artery so the muscle cells can't get any oxygen. Without oxygen, cells die causing the pain felt. In addition to the symptoms mentioned above, a patient might also experience nausea, vomiting, profuse perspiration and anxiety. Diabetic patients are more apt to suffer the "silent" attack so frequent and thorough examinations are recommended to prevent further muscle damage should one of the silent attacks have occurred. It is unfortunate but women often are misdiagnosed because their chest pain presents differently from mens. Men are most likely to have a severe pain directly under the sternum, breastbone, and more often have chest pain after exertion rather than fatigue. Women, on the other hand, experience pain more often throughout their entire chest and are more likely to suffer extreme fatigue after exertion. Go To Page: 1 2
The copyright of the article What is a Heart Attack? The Basics. in Natural Pharmaceuticals is owned by Gerald Eisman. Permission to republish What is a Heart Attack? The Basics. in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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