12 Warning Signs of a Heart Attack

If there are more than one or two of these signs present, take action. Better to be safe, and a little embarrassed, than to waste precious time"waiting to see." Just call an ambulance or get some help immediately.

• A feeling of discomfort, squeezing or pain in the center of the chest.
• The pain spreads to the shoulders, neck or arms. It may vary in intensity, from a sense of pressure, constriction, burning or weigh heavily.
• It may be located in the chest, upper abdomen, neck, jaw, or inside the arms or shoulders.
• Lightheadedness.
• Fainting.
• Sweating,
  
• Nausea
  
• Shortness of breath.
• Anxiety, nervousness and/or cold, sweaty skin.
• Paleness or pallor.
• Increased or irregular heart rate.
• Sense of dread.

A heart attack may occurr at any time. A woman of about 60 was driving when she noticed the tightness in her chest and lightheadedness. She dismissed it, thinking it was just because she had sat too long in one position. When she got home, she knew it was something more serious and phoned the ambulance. They informed her she had had a heart attack. She was lucky, but she did go on to have surgery.





"Silent" heart attacks are quite common though. In a study at Duke, 185 patients with ongoing coronary disease (but no heart attack), were examined using a Delayed Enhancement Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance device. One third of those patient had already had heart attacks.

The challenging fact is that for those patients, ignorance is definitely not bliss. In the same study they were also found to be 17 times more likely to die from heart disease than the general population. There are things that we can do, if we don't let complacency and the "it will never happen to me" syndrome take over.