Men age 45 and older and women age 55 and older are more likely to have a heart attack than are younger men and women.
Heart attacks are mostly thought of as a health issue related to senior citizens, with the average age of heart attack victims being 65-72 years old. However, the truth is that they can occur within younger age groups as well. Eight out of 100 people who experience a heart attack are less than 50 years old.
In men, the risk for heart attack increases significantly after the age of 45. In women, heart attacks are more likely to occur after the age of 50. A heart attack strikes someone about every 34 seconds.
It was rare for anyone younger than 40 to have a heart attack. Now 1 in 5 heart attack patients are younger than 40 years of age. Here's another troubling fact to highlight the problem: Having a heart attack in your 20s or early 30s is more common.
Even though cardiovascular disease is typically associated with older adults, it can occur at any age. In the United States, many people have health conditions (like obesity and high blood pressure) that raise the risk of cardiovascular disease in their 20s and 30s.
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.
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.
“Forty to 50 percent of heart attacks present with a fatal event,” Dr. Chawla says. “People ignore symptoms, which are usually taking place for weeks or months before finally having a heart attack with complete blockage.
Studies have found that survival rates for people hospitalized for heart attacks are approximately 90%1 to 97%. 2 This varies based on the type of heart attack, which arteries are involved, and additional factors such as age and gender.
Atherosclerosis, which causes diseases of the arteries, is a very common process. One of the biggest risk factors for atherosclerosis is age, so it is more common among people in their 60s and 70s, although there are many elderly people who don't have significant atherosclerosis.
The prevalence of CHD increases rapidly with age, affecting around 1 in 9 (11%) adults aged 75 and over. In 2020, an estimated 56,700 people aged 25 and over had an acute coronary event in the form of a heart attack or unstable angina – around 155 events every day. Of these, 6,900 (12%) were fatal.
Youngest person who we have seen has had a heart attack is a 17-year-old guy," says Dr Ruchit Shah, Interventional Cardiologist, Masina Hospital, Mumbai.
What time of day is a heart attack most likely to happen? “Most heart attacks hit during the early morning hours from 4 – 10 am when blood platelets are stickier, and there is increased adrenaline released from the adrenal glands that can trigger rupture of plaques in coronary arteries,” said Dr. Goodroe.
Most people having a heart attack do not die immediately, but some do. This is usually from a too-fast heart rhythm (ventricular tachycardia or fibrillation), but can also be from a heart attack-induced very slow heart rhythm, or from the heart just not being able to pump because too much of it is being damaged.
Is sudden cardiac death painful? Some people have chest pain during the initial seconds of sudden cardiac arrest. However, once you lose consciousness, you don't feel pain.
Chest pain
If it's a heart attack, it's usually described as a heaviness, tightness or pressure in the chest; people will often describe it as 'an elephant sat on my chest' or 'it felt like a tight band around my chest,' that sort of constricting feeling.
It can lead to a heart attack, chest pain (angina) or stroke. Coronary artery disease symptoms may be different for men and women. For instance, men are more likely to have chest pain. Women are more likely to have other symptoms along with chest discomfort, such as shortness of breath, nausea and extreme fatigue.
With a panic attack, the chest pain is usually localized to the middle of the chest and it is a stabbing pain. Pain in the chest from a heart attack is more of a squeezing pain and it can radiate from the chest to the arm, jaw or shoulder blades. The Duration of the Pain.
Signs of a heart attack include:
- Uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain in the center of the chest that comes on quickly and won't go away with rest. - Pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach. - Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort.
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.
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.