Symptoms of a Heart Attack
A heart attack can come on gradually, preceded by several attacks of angina over days, weeks, months or
even years. (Angina is the name given to the chest pain that arises when the muscular wall of the heart
is temporarily deprived of sufficient oxygen.) But a heart attack may also occur without any apparent
warning, and in people who have never previously experienced any chest pain.
Typically, the pain of a heart attack is a sensation of constriction in the central chest area; it may
vary in intensity from a feeling of tightness to one of agonizing crushing or bursting. The pain may be
continuous, or it may last a few minutes, fade and then recur. It commonly spreads to the back, jaw and
left arm. Although a heart attack may be precipitated by physical or emotional stress, the pain, unlike
that of angina, does not subside when the stress ceases.
Pain is commonly accompanied by shortness of breath, sweating, nausea, dizziness and pallor. (Some people
experience a heart attack without any of these symptoms. This is known as a "silent" infarct, which may
be confirmed by changes in an electrocardiogram or certain other hospital tests.)
A Medical Emergency
Most deaths from heart attack occur within minutes to hours after the onset of symptoms. Therefore, when
sudden and severe chest pain occurs, an ambulance should be called immediately and the individual taken
to a hospital. Denying that these symptoms represent a life-threatening illness may cause a delay that
could be fatal.
One of the major cause of death from coronary thrombosis is the development of abnormal heart rhythms in
the hours immediately following the attack. Emergency treatment, therefore, concentrates on stabilizing
the heart rhythm, as well as on relieving pain and preventing shock.
In the hospital's intensive-care or cardiac-care unit, the rate and rhythm of the heart will be
continuously monitored by an electrocardiograph machine. Blood tests to detect enzymes released from the
heart aid in assessing the infarct further and various medications may be given. Mood changes and feelings
of apprehension are very common following a heart attack, and a mild tranquilizer is often given to the
patient.
Depending on the severity of the attack, the patient may be allowed out of bed within three or four days
and be discharged after two weeks. Bed rest for more than a short time should be avoided, where possible,
because it results in a rapid loss of the body's muscle tone and in increased heart rate on exertion.
Physical activity is gradually increased and most patients are able to return to their full range of
normal activity within a few months.
