Each year, over a million men and women are diagnosed with heart disease. More than 460,000 people will suffer from a fatal cardiac event annually. Heart disease is called the silent killer because many people are unaware that they have heart disease until the first symptom appears–a heart attack. The good news is that over 90 percent of people who have heart attacks will recover if they receive immediate treatment at a hospital.
First Indications of a Heart Attack
When occluded coronary arteries reduce blood to the heart, the first symptom may be angina. Angina often feels like indigestion or a toothache and is a warning sign that the heart is not getting the blood it needs. Often times, the symptoms will subsist, never to return again. In some cases, symptoms will recur as angina or as a more serious heart attack.
Mistaken Signs of an Oncoming Heart Attack
A heart attack produces symptoms that include chest pain, shortness of breath, pain in the lower jaw, nausea, vomiting, profuse sweating and general malaise. In a quarter of the cases, people will have a heart attack and not even be aware of it.
Heart Attack Symptoms in Women
Women tend to have heart attacks later in life than men. They also exhibit more modest and prolonged symptoms that can easily be confused with indigestion or back pain over weeks or months. Many heart attacks in women are misdiagnosed as some lesser medical complaint.
