Heart Attack Symptoms

Myocardial infarction or heart attack commonly occurs when blood supply to a portion of heart gets blocked. The blocked blood needs to be restored early; else the clot in the heart coronary arteries may damage the heart muscles or even cause death. Any individual can suffer from this medical condition. However, some people are more susceptible to have heart conditions than others. The major triggers of heart attack are previous history of diseases like heart attacks, bypass surgery, angina, stroke, atherosclerotic coronary heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, etc., older age, smoking, alcohol, drug addiction, obesity, stress, etc.

Sign and Symptom of a Heart Attack: Some early heart attack symptoms include dizziness, excessive pressure, chest pain and squeezing. There is burning pain in varied body parts like arms, jaw, stomach, back, neck and epigastrium. The person may feel shortness of breath, excessive sweating, nausea, palpitation, anxiety, vomiting, etc.

Female Heart attack Symptom: Heart attack in women is less common as compared with men. Men over 45 and women over 55 have a higher risk of having a heart attack. In women chest pain heart attack symptom is less analytical as in the case of men. Some common women heart attack symptoms are fatigue, sleep disorder, dyspnea, weakness, shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, back and jaw pain. The causes of MI in female are also very distinct as compared to men. Some major causes include lower income, short education, oral contraceptive pills, etc.

Silent heart attack symptom: Heart attack that occurs without any symptoms is known as a silent heart attack. These are most common in women, patients of diabetes and people older than 65. Silent heart attacks often occur with mild heart attack symptoms like chest pain.

Massive heart attack symptom: Massive heart attack occurs due to the cut off of blood supply to the heart muscles. This blockage reduces the heart muscles ability to pump the blood and also affects the working of the heart valves. Some massive heart attack symptoms are chest tightness, burning, pain in the left shoulder, arm and hand, discomfort in neck and jaw, sweating, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and fatigue.

Panic heart attack symptom: Panic heart attack is considered a serious condition as the exact causes are still not known. However, the major causes are believed to be stress and anxiety due to major life changes like marriage, first child, graduation, exams, etc. Panic heart attack generally occurs during the teens or early adulthood. A few panic heart attack symptoms are chest pain, shortness of breath, rapid or pounding heart beat (palpitations), sweating, dizziness, weakness, abdominal difficulty, feeling light headed, etc.

Heart Attack Treatment

· Physical examination: Initially, the doctor will review the patient's complete medical history. He will then perform a physical examination of your body and listen to your chest. The doctor will check for signs like abnormal sounding of lungs, rapid pulse rate, high blood pressure, etc.for heart condition diagnosis.

· Tests: The actual diagnosis of heart attack is done with the help of tests like CT scan, MRI or Electrocardiogram. These tests are used to discover different abnormalities. The blood tests can also help you to detect abnormal levels.

After the complete diagnosis, treatments to restore the blood flow should be started. Treatments include medicines and medical procedures. A wide variety of medicines are available to treat and prevent heart attacks. Medicines can also be bought to relieve pain in chest, arms etc. With the help of life-saving procedures like angioplasty, the blocked section of the heart can be easily opened. Emergency bypass surgery can also be performed to treat the heart condition. Consult a heart specialist for heart treatment.