Getting the facts right could save someone’s life one day!
When people suffer from a heart attack, it doesn’t always look like in Hollywood movies. Most of the time there are more subtle signs that could be observed. Some of the common symptoms are chest pain and pressure around the heart area in the chest, but shortness of breath, back pain, jaw pain, vomiting and flu-like symptoms may also be experienced by someone having a heart attack.
A heart attack occurs when not enough oxygen is being supplied to the muscles that are responsible for maintaining the heart’s regular beat. Most of the time this is caused by a blockage in the heart’s arteries — called coronary arteries — due to various factors, which cuts the blood supply to a specific part of the heart.
SEE ALSO: Is It Actually Possible to Die From a Broken Heart?
Once the blood stops supplying the heart tissue, hypoxia or lack of oxygen sets in and the muscle cells may become damaged and die. This is what leads to pain and pressure build up, and if it’s not treated, the heart muscles will experience irreversible damage and eventually stop beating — a condition known as cardiac arrest — which will result in death.
In this video by Bottom Line Publications, Dr Steinbaum discusses the telltail symptoms of a heart attack, and what to look out for even if the symptoms might seem like other ailments.
