Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center or left side of the chest that lasts for more than a few minutes or that goes away and comes back. The discomfort can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness, or pain. Feeling weak, light-headed, or faint. You may also break out into a cold sweat.
The first week you return home from the hospital, you may feel tired or weak. This is normal. It's because the heart attack damaged your heart muscle, and your heart needs time to recover. Plus, you're adjusting to being up and about after a period of bed rest.
If your job involves light duties, such as working in an office, you may be able to return to work in 2 weeks. However, if your job involves heavy manual tasks or your heart was extensively damaged, it may be several months before you can return to work.
Chest Pain, Pressure, Fullness, or Discomfort
Most heart attacks actually involve only mild pain or discomfort in the center of your chest. You may also feel pressure, squeezing, or fullness. These symptoms usually start slowly, and they may go away and come back.
Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center or left side of the chest that lasts for more than a few minutes or that goes away and comes back. The discomfort can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness, or pain. Feeling weak, light-headed, or faint. You may also break out into a cold sweat.
SMI warning signs
It can feel like an uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, or pain. Discomfort in other upper-body areas, such as one or both arms, the back, the neck, the jaw, or the stomach. Shortness of breath before or during chest discomfort. Breaking out in a cold sweat, or feeling nauseated or lightheaded.
Most people survive their first heart attack and return to their normal lives to enjoy many more years of productive activity. But having a heart attack does mean you need to make some changes in your life.
An ECG is important because: it helps confirm the diagnosis of a heart attack. it helps determine what type of heart attack you have had, which will help determine the most effective treatment.
They may go away and come back again, or they may occur intermittently over several hours . In most cases, the symptoms will begin slowly and cause mild pain or discomfort. Sometimes, however, the symptoms can be sudden and intense.
Approximately 20 years of life are free of heart disease and 6.7 are spent with heart disease with 2.4 of those after having had a heart attack and 4.3 with heart disease but not having had a heart attack. Women at age 50 average 31 years in total with about 23 heart-disease free years.
You might receive clot-dissolving drugs (thrombolysis), balloon angioplasty (PCI), surgery or a combination of treatments. About 36 percent of hospitals in the U.S. are equipped to use a procedure called percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), a mechanical means of treating heart attack.
Yes. A heart attack can actually happen without a person knowing it. You can understand why it is called a "silent" heart attack.
Electrocardiogram. An electrocardiogram (ECG) is a test that records the electrical activity of the heart. The ECG reflects what's happening in different areas of the heart and helps identify any problems with the rhythm or rate of your heart. The ECG is painless and takes around 5-10 minutes to perform.
Stress may lead to high blood pressure, which can pose a risk for heart attack and stroke. Stress also may contribute to such cardiovascular disease risks as smoking, overeating and lack of physical activity. "Chronic stress has been shown to be associated with increased cardiovascular events," Schiffrin said.
Summary: Exercise can reverse damage to sedentary, aging hearts and help prevent risk of future heart failure -- if it's enough exercise, and if it's begun in time, according to a new study by cardiologists.
About 1 in 5 people who have had a heart attack will be readmitted to the hospital for a second one within five years, according to the American Heart Association. The organization also says that there are about 335,000 recurrent heart attacks each year in the United States.
After a first heart attack, most people go on to live a long, productive life. However, around 20 percent of patients age 45 and older will have another heart attack within five years of their first.
While the term “mini” heart attack may sound as though it is less severe than other types of heart attack, this condition is still serious and constitutes a medical emergency. Therefore, anyone experiencing heart attack symptoms should seek emergency medical attention.
A silent heart attack is a heart attack that has few, if any, symptoms or has symptoms not recognized as a heart attack. A silent heart attack might not cause chest pain or shortness of breath, which are typically associated with a heart attack.
A mild heart attack often doesn't cause much permanent heart damage or only affects a relatively small portion of the heart muscle. It could be the result of a blockage that occurs in a small coronary artery, or the blockage does not completely block blood flow to the heart, or it only lasts a brief time.
Pre-Heart Attack Symptoms – Female
Men may feel pain and numbness in the left arm or the side of the chest. In women, these symptoms may appear on the right side. Women may experience unexplained exhaustion, or feel drained, dizzy or nauseous. Women may feel upper back pain that travels up into their jaw.
You'll usually stay in hospital for about two to five days after having a heart attack. This depends on what treatment you've had and how well you're recovering. If you've had coronary angioplasty or stents, it's likely you'll stay in hospital for two or three days.