Heart attacks are a serious, life-threatening condition. But heart attack symptoms can be hard to recognize and sometimes mimic other illnesses.
If you think someone is having a heart attack, don’t hesitate to call 911 and get help as soon as possible.
What Is a Heart Attack?
A heart attack occurs when blood flow to your heart muscle is blocked or interrupted by a clot (thrombosis) or other form of obstruction in one or more coronary arteries. This results in the death of heart muscle tissue (infarction) and can cause serious complications such as sudden cardiac arrest, which is fatal without immediate medical care.
But how do you know if someone is having a heart attack? It’s not always easy to tell. Many people who experience heart attacks don’t have any chest pain or other common symptoms. And even when chest pain does occur, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s from a heart attack — there are other conditions that can cause similar symptoms.
The best way to know for sure is to call 911 immediately and get medical help for the person experiencing the problem.
Symptoms of a Heart Attack
Heart attacks occur most often in people over age 65 and men are affected more often than women. The following are common signs of a heart attack:
- Chest pain or discomfort. Most people experience pain or discomfort in the center of their chest that lasts more than a few minutes, or goes away and comes back. The pain may feel like a tight band around your chest, squeezing it like a vise. It may radiate from the chest to the left arm, jaw, neck or back — even down into one leg.
- Discomfort in other areas of the upper body such as one or both arms, the back, jaw or stomach
- Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort
- Upper abdominal pain that may spread to the back
- Nausea and vomiting
- Lightheadedness or sudden weakness
