Warning Signs Of Heart Attack

The information on warning signs of heart attack given has been taken from literature and intended for general use only.

1. Sweating
2. Shortness of breath
3. Nausea or vomiting
4. Dizziness
5. Crushing or squeezing chest pain radiating to the arm, neck or jaw
6. Irregular and/or rapid pulse
7. Intense pain in the jaw line.

Not every heart attack symptom is going to be the left arm pain. You may never have the first chest pain during the course of a heart attack. Nausea and intense sweating are also common symptoms. 60% of people who have a heart attack while they are asleep do not wake up. Pain in the jaw can wake you from a sound sleep.

Call emergency services immediately if you experience any of the other symptoms.

Some of these signs necessarily do not indicate the heart disease.

Self help

If you have a heart attack and you are alone, you should know what to do and how to survive a heart attack in such a situation. Note that you have only 10 seconds to act, so you should be fast. Do the following:

1. Keep calm, do not panic.
2. Take a very deep breath and start coughing vigorously. Deep breath gives you oxygen to your lungs and coughing squeeze the heart helping the blood to circulate.
3. Repeat deep breath and coughing every 2 seconds until you get a help or your heart starts beating normally.
4. Dr. Devi Shetty, Narayana Hrudayalaya (Heart Specialist), Bangalore recommends: Lie down comfortably and put an aspirin tablet of any description under the tongue and ask someone to take you to the nearest coronary care unit without any delay. Do not wait for the ambulance since most of the time, the ambulance does not turn up.

First 60 minutes of suffering heart attack very crucial

More than 80% of heart attacks can be reversed by timely action during the first one hour of the attack.
Call the Doctor and do the following as advised by Dr Hasmukh Ravat.

1. Check the patient's breathing and the pulse by placing a finger on the side of the throat, below the line of the ear.
2. Make the patient lie on the floor, tilt him/her to the left and make him/her lie on the side. Raise the legs 12-18 inches up till the knees near the abdomen. This will enable more blood flow to heart.
3. Bring back to lying position. Blow air in the mouth (mouth-to mouth respiration). After this, immediately place one palm just over the lower part of the breast bone. Keep the other palm on this palm and pump hard. Do this twice per second for about a minute.
4. Continue blowing of air and pumping till you feel the heart beat returning to normal.

The content on this website is reviewed regularly and is updated when new information is made available. The information provided is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. You should always seek the advice of your Doctor.