#HeartAttack - warning symptoms and signs

Heart disease is the #1 killer of U.S. men and women, accounting for 40% of all deaths. That’s more than all forms of cancer combined.

Why is heart disease so deadly? One reason is that many people are slow to seek help when symptoms arise. Yes, someone gripped by sudden chest pain probably knows to call 911. But heart symptoms aren’t always intense or obvious, and they vary from person to person and according to gender.

Because it can be hard to make sense of heart symptoms, doctors warn against ignoring possible warning signs: that’s especially true for people over 65, as well as for people with heart risk factors, such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity, smoking, diabetes, or a family history of heart disease. And specialists highlight: a serious heart problem can mean sudden death!

Here are a dozen symptoms that may signal heart trouble.

1. Anxiety. Heart attack can cause intense anxiety or a fear of death. 

2. Chest discomfort. Pain in the chest is the classic symptom of heart attack, but not all heart attacks cause chest pain, and chest pain can stem from ailments that have nothing to do with the heart.

Heart-related chest pain is often centered under the breastbone, perhaps a little to the left of center. The pain has been likened to “an elephant sitting on the chest,” but it can also be an uncomfortable sensation of pressure, squeezing, or fullness. Women, more than men, can also experience a burning sensation in their chest, rather than a pressure or pain.  Sometimes people make the mistake that the pain comes from a stomach problem.

3. Cough. Persistent coughing or wheezing can be a symptom of heart failure — a result of fluid accumulation in the lungs. In some cases, people with heart failure cough up bloody phlegm.

4. Dizziness. Heart attacks and also arrhyrthmias can cause dizziness and loss of consciousness. 

5. Fatigue. Especially among women, unusual fatigue can occur during a heart attack as well as in the days and weeks leading up to one. And feeling tired all the time may be a symptom of heart failure.

6. Nausea or lack of appetite. It’s not uncommon for people to feel sick to their stomach or throw up during a heart attack. And abdominal swelling associated with heart failure can interfere with appetite.

7. Pain in other parts of the body. In many heart attacks, pain begins in the chest and spreads to the shoulders, arms, elbows, back, neck, jaw, or abdomen. But sometimes there is no chest pain — just pain in these other body areas like one or both arms, or between the shoulders.  The pain might come and go.

8. Rapid or irregular pulse. Rapid or irregular pulse — especially when accompanied by weakness, dizziness, or shortness of breath — can be evidence of a heart attack, heart failure, or an arrhythmia. Left untreated, some arrhythmias can lead to stroke, heart failure, or sudden death.

9. Shortness of breath. People who feel winded at rest or with minimal exertion might have a pulmonary condition like asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). But breathlessness could also indicate a heart attack or heart failure. Sometimes people having a heart attack don’t have chest pressure or pain but feel extremely short of breath.

10. Sweating. Breaking out in a cold sweat is a common symptom of heart attack.

11. Swelling. Heart failure can cause fluid to accumulate in the body. This can cause swelling (often in the feet, ankles, legs, or abdomen) as well as sudden weight gain and sometimes a loss of appetite.

12. Weakness. In the days leading up to a heart attack, as well as during one, some people experience severe, unexplained weakness.