Signs of silent heart attack

Most people don't realize that they could have a heart attack without even knowing it. Although these are commonly referred to as "silent" heart attacks, a more accurate term may be "unrecognized" heart attack, says cardiologist Dr. David Morrow, director of the cardiac intensive care unit at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital.

"Some people do have symptoms, so in that sense, their heart attack is not silent. They just don't recognize the sensations as coming from their heart," he explains. They may think it's just indigestion or muscle pain, when the real cause is actually reduced blood flow to the heart. People may also experience other atypical symptoms, such as nausea or excessive sweating during a heart attack (see "Heart attack symptoms").

People with diabetes are more likely to have minimal or atypical symptoms. That's especially worrisome because they already face a higher-than-average risk of heart attack in the first place.

Raising awareness of unrecognized heart attacks is important because over the long term these events are just as dangerous as recognizable heart attacks (see "Survival after an unrecognized heart attack").

During a heart attack, the duration and intensity of symptoms can vary quite a bit. In general, there must be 15 to 30 minutes of reduced blood flow to result in a detectable heart attack (that is, part of the heart muscle becomes damaged or dies). But sometimes symptoms come and go; these are known as stuttering symptoms. And the intensity doesn't correlate with the size of the heart attack. Some people have mild symptoms from a very large heart attack, while others have severe symptoms with a small heart attack, says Dr. Morrow.

 

Heart attack symptoms

Although the most common sign of a heart attack in both men and women is the classic one — discomfort in the center of the chest that spreads through the upper body — this symptom doesn't always occur. Some people experience non-classic symptoms, and these might be slightly more frequent in women and in older people. 

 

Classic symptoms	Non-classic symptoms
Pressure, aching, or tightness in the center of the chest Pain or discomfort that radiates to the upper body, especially shoulders or neck and arms Sweating	Shortness of breath Weakness Nausea or vomiting Dizziness Back or jaw pain Unexplained fatigue

 

How long, how strong?

Silent heart attacks are usually discovered on an electrocardiogram (ECG), which is a recording of the heart's electrical activity. Damage to the heart's muscle caused by a heart attack shows up as a distinct signature on an ECG.

ECGs are quick and inexpensive, but they can miss a prior unrecognized heart attack or produce false positives, meaning they find evidence of a heart attack when there actually wasn't one. As a result, ECGs are not recommended for routine screening for people with an average risk of a heart attack who don't have symptoms. However, an ECG and other testing is appropriate for people with symptoms that suggest a heart attack, even if the cause is unclear. "I'd much rather have people get evaluated and it turn out to be nothing serious than not be evaluated and weather a heart attack at home," says Dr. Morrow.

 

Survival after an unrecognized heart attack

A 2019 study reported in JAMA Cardiology identified people who'd experienced heart attacks — some recognized, some not — as well as others who'd never had a heart attack, and followed them all for about 13 years.

Here's a summary of the findings:

Who: 935 adults in Iceland with an average age of 76.

How: MRI of the heart (which can reveal damage caused by a heart attack) done at the start of the study showed that 17% of the participants had at some point had an unrecognized heart attack, while another 10% had a recognized heart attack.

Why: To determine the short- and long-term prognosis after an unrecognized heart attack.

Key findings: After three years, those who'd had unrecognized heart attacks were no more likely to have died than people with no history of heart attack. But after 10 years, about half of the people with unrecognized heart attacks had died — a rate that was nearly identical to those who'd had recognized heart attacks.

 

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

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Read This Guide To Know When Chest Pain Is a Real Concern

If you wake up in the middle of the night with chest pain, your mind might automatically think you're having a heart attack. After all, it’s the number one killer disease in the US. And the number one symptom is the vague term “chest pain”, which can be misleading because it’s not always painful nor always in the chest. 

In most cases, people imagine they will have severe chest pain and dismiss the actual symptoms of a heart attack, go back to sleep and suffer one. Below I will discuss the symptoms you will and won’t feel if you are having a heart attack and what you should do, and in which cases you should seek help immediately. 

How chest pain from a heart attack feels

The typical pain described is a feeling of tightness, squeezing or heaviness in the chest. The Latin term angina pectoris, meaning sensation in the chest, is a more accurate description. This pain has been described as feeling like a band or weight is being tightened around your chest. The pain is often on the left side and above the bottom rib-cage, although it’s often difficult to determine its exact location. 

 

Other typical symptoms include: 

• Shortness of breath 

• Sweating, nausea, and anxiety 

• Pain in the left arm, jaw or neck

What other symptoms I might feel  ?

While the typical symptoms are definitely a reason to visit your physician, sometimes people feel less typical pains, which could also indicate that you are having a heart attack. 

• Pain not on the left side – sometimes the pain is located on the right, center or top of the abdomen. 

• No pain – some people don’t experience pain and only feel shortness of breath. Research indicates that no chest pain symptoms can occur in 1/3 of people having a heart attack. 

• Sharper pain - some people report sharper chest pains or the feeling of indigestion. 

How long should the chest pain last?

The next indication of whether you are suffering a heart attack is pain duration. Consider the following 3 factors: 

 

1. Heart-attack-related chest pain comes on over several minutes and not suddenly. Sudden severe pain is a reason for concern, but it is not consistent with angina. 

 

2. The chest pain lasts for at least 5 minutes and doesn’t last continuously for more than 20 to 30 minutes. 

 

3. Pain that comes on during rest, or doesn’t go away after exertion, also indicates a heart attack. 

 

Do I have any of the major risk factors?

Doctors like to consider the risk factors when determining whether your chest pain is a heart attack. They will take high-risk patients with atypical symptoms more seriously than low-risk patients with classic symptoms. 

 

• Age – the risk increases as you age. For men it’s after the age of 40 and for women it’s after the age of 50. It can happen to a younger person, but it’s more unlikely. 

 

• Sex – this is not to say women aren’t affected by heart disease, but the risk for heart attacks is higher for men. 

 

• Genetics – your risk is significantly higher if a member of your immediate family had or has coronary heart disease. The risk is even higher if that family member was a man under 50 or a woman under 60. 

 

• Hypertension, diabetes, and cholesterol – these diseases increase your risk of having a heart attack considerably. 

 

• Smoking – while most people think smoking destroys your lungs (and it does), more smokers die from heart disease. Smoking substantially increases the risk of you having a heart attack.

What it shouldn't feel like

 

Some chest pain is not consistent with having a heart attack. 

 

• Sharp and brief pain – stabbing pain that lasts only a few seconds is not coming from the heart. 

 

• Persists for hours – heart attack chest pain will last for 20-30 minutes at the most and typically ends with a heart attack. 

 

• Gets worse with movement – the sort of pain that worsens when pressed on is usually from chest bone or muscle pains and not the heart. 

 

• You can pinpoint the pain with a single finger – heart chest pain tends to be difficult to locate exactly. 

 

If you have a worrying pain, there is no harm in having it checked out. It’s better to have lesser symptoms checked out than to stay at home and actually have a heart attack. If you are high risk, don’t hesitate to have the pain examined. If you are high risk and have the classic symptoms, I advise going to the emergency room or calling an ambulance.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

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Suffer From Anxiety? Here's How to Avoid Panic Attacks

A panic attack is a sudden feeling of intense anxiety, which may also be accompanied by a number of intense physical symptoms, including nausea, disorientation, shaking, an irregular heartbeat, dizziness, sweating, restlessness, tingling fingers, ringing in your ears, and shortness of breath. 

 

These symptoms aren't typically dangerous but can be absolutely terrifying to experience, especially if you've never had a panic attack before. They can make you feel as though you're having a heart attack, and may last anywhere from a few minutes to half an hour. 

 

What Causes a Panic Attack?

 

The symptoms described above tend to kick in when your body enters 'fight or flight' mode, as the result of a distressing physical or psychological stimulus. Your rate of breathing speeds up as your body tries to increase its oxygen intake. This causes a number of hormones to be released, such as adrenaline, making your muscles tense up and your heart beat faster.

How Should I Handle a Panic Attack? 

Professor of Clinical Psychology and Applied Science at the University of Bath, Paul Salkovskis, says that it's very important not to allow your fear of panic attacks to take over. "Panic attacks always pass and the symptoms are not a sign of anything harmful happening," he says. "Tell yourself that the symptoms you're experiencing are caused by anxiety." 

 

He points out that during a panic attack, one should avoid looking for distractions, but to ride out the attack instead. "Try to keep doing things. If possible, don't leave the situation until the anxiety has subsided. Confront your fear. If you don't run away from it, you're giving yourself a chance to discover that nothing's going to happen." 

 

Once the anxiety begins to subside, you should focus on your surroundings, and carry on with whatever you were doing before the attack began. "If you’re having a short, sudden panic attack, it can be helpful to have someone with you, reassuring you that it will pass and the symptoms are nothing to worry about," says Professor Salkovskis.

Try breathing exercises to help ease symptoms

 

 

If a panic attack causes your breathing pattern to rapidly speed up, controlling your breath by means of breathing exercises is an effective way of easing some of the symptoms. 

 

Try this: 1. Breathe in through your nose, as gently, slowly, and deeply as possible. 

 

2. Breathe out through your mouth, gently, slowly, and deeply.  

 

3. While breathing in and out, you may find it useful to count from one to five for each inhalation or exhalation.

 

 4. Close your eyes, and simply focus on your breathing. 

 

After practicing this for a few minutes, you should begin to feel better. However, it's perfectly normal to feel a bit fatigued afterward. 

 

How Can I Prevent Panic Attacks? 

 

In order to try and prevent panic attacks from occurring, Professor Salkovskis says that "you need to try to work out what particular stress you might be under that could make your symptoms worse," but that "it's important not to restrict your movements and daily activities." 

 

Here are some things that may help you to prevent panic attacks: 

 

• Doing breathing exercises or practicing meditation on a daily basis. 

 

• Eating regular meals to help stabilize your blood sugar levels. 

 

• Exercising regularly to help you manage stress, boost your confidence, release tension, and boost your mood. 

 

• Avoid smoking, alcohol, and caffeine, since these can aggravate your symptoms. 

 

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) can get to the root of your problem and can alter the negative thought patterns that are fueling your attacks. 

 

• Joining a panic support group can also be very helpful and reassuring. 

 

Should I See a Doctor? 

While frightening, panic attacks are typically relatively harmless. However, for more severe cases, it would be a good idea to get a professional opinion. 

 

You should see your doctor if: 

 

• You feel unwell after your breathing returns to normal. 

 

• Your panic attack still hasn't subsided after 20 whole minutes of controlled breathing exercises. 

 

• You still have an irregular or rapid heartbeat or chest pains after the attack subsides. 

 

• Your panic attacks become a regular occurrence.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

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Irregular heartbeat: 7 warning signs of cardiac risk you shouldn’t ignore

 When your heart races unexpectedly, skips a beat, or feels like it's fluttering in your chest, it can be an unsettling experience. These symptoms of an irregular heartbeat, also known as arrhythmia, are not just uncomfortable; they can be a cause for concern. Understanding these signs early is vital, as they may indicate a heightened risk for serious cardiac issues.

Cardiac risk refers to the likelihood of developing heart-related conditions such as heart disease, heart attack, or stroke. Factors contributing to cardiac risk include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity, and lifestyle choices like smoking and lack of physical activity. An irregular heartbeat can be a significant indicator of underlying cardiac problems.

According to the American Heart Association (AHA), the rhythm of your heartbeat is a critical indicator of your heart's health. A normal heartbeat maintains a steady, consistent pace, ensuring efficient blood flow throughout your body. When this rhythm is disrupted, it can signal potential issues such as atrial fibrillation (AFib), which increases the risk of stroke and heart failure.

Here are 7 signs of irregular heartbeat that you should not ignore

Palpitations: Feeling like your heart is racing, pounding, or fluttering is one of the most common signs of an irregular heartbeat. While occasional palpitations can be harmless, frequent or severe episodes may indicate an underlying cardiac condition that requires medical attention.

Fatigue: Unexplained fatigue especially if it occurs suddenly or is persistent, can be a symptom of an irregular heartbeat. When your heart isn't pumping efficiently, your body may not receive the oxygen-rich blood it needs, leading to constant tiredness.

Dizziness: Experiencing dizziness or light-headedness can be a sign that your heart is not beating properly. This can result from poor blood flow to the brain and other organs, potentially leading to fainting spells or falls.

Shortness of breath: If you find yourself short of breath, particularly during normal activities or while lying down, it could be a sign of an irregular heartbeat. This symptom occurs when your heart struggles to circulate blood effectively, leading to a buildup of fluid in your lungs.

Chest pain: Chest pain or discomfort can be a severe warning sign of an irregular heartbeat. This pain may feel like pressure, tightness, or a squeezing sensation and can indicate that your heart is under strain or not receiving enough oxygen.

 Sweating: Unexpected or excessive sweating, especially when not related to physical activity or high temperatures, can be a symptom of an irregular heartbeat. This can occur as your body reacts to the stress of an inefficient heart rhythm.

Anxiety: While anxiety can be a standalone condition, it can also be a symptom of an irregular heartbeat. The sensation of an erratic heart rate can trigger feelings of panic or unease, exacerbating the symptoms of both conditions.

 

 

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Except for joints, Arthritis red flag can also appear on the face: some warning signs

Arthritis is a relatively common inflammatory joint disease that produces pain and swelling. Symptoms may manifest in locations other than the joints, including the face.

Osteoarthritis is the most common type of inflammatory joint disease, accounting for 90% of cases. Rheumatoid arthritis is a less prevalent kind of arthritis. 

The distinction between the two is that osteoarthritis occurs when the cartilage joint wears out, but rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune illness in which the body’s immune system assaults it.

Rheumatoid arthritis, like other types of arthritis, primarily affects the joints.

Other symptoms, on the other hand, can affect different parts of the body.

For instance, if these sites get infected, a patient may suffer from dry eyes or chest pain.

Tiredness, lack of energy, a high temperature, sweating, a poor appetite, and weight loss are some of the non-joint symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis can produce a number of issues in addition to lowering the quality of life.

It can raise a person’s risk of getting carpal tunnel syndrome, a disorder in which nerves in the wrist are compressed.

Aching, numbness, and tingling in the thumb, fingers, or other parts of the hand are common symptoms.

Rheumatoid arthritis can cause widespread inflammation, joint degeneration, cardiovascular illness, and cervical myelopathy, among other things.

Unfortunately, there is no cure for rheumatoid arthritis, although it can be managed with medications that reduce inflammation and pain.

 

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

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