If you or anyone you know is a senior, pay special attention to the following signs of a possible heart attack. Any one or more of these symptoms could indicate a heart attack, so act quickly: you could save your own or someone else’s life.
The most common symptoms are:
- Pain spreading from your chest to your arms or jaw, or down both arms, the neck, or shoulders
- Discomfort in the chest with sweating, lightheadedness, nausea, fainting or shortness of breath
- Uncomfortable squeezing, fullness, pressure or pain in the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes
Less common symptoms:
- Cold sweat, palpitations, or paleness
- Difficulty breathing, shortness of breath
- Feeling dizzy
- Unusual chest, stomach or abdominal pain, could feel like heartburn
- Unexplained weakness, fatigue or anxiety
According to the American Medical Association[1], you are probably not having a heart attack if: the pain worsens when you breathe in, the pain changes when you move, or feels sharp like a knife.
The symptoms may subside with rest, but even so, you should Call 911 if you observe or have any of the symptoms above. The American Heart Association suggests chewing an aspirin to counter blood clotting, as blood clotting may be the cause of the episode. Stop all activity or tell the person having an attack to stop all activity, and wait for help to arrive.
[1] Panju AP, Hemmelgarn BR, Guyatt GH, et al.Is this patient having a myocardial infarction: Journal of the AMA
Comments on this entry are closed.