What are the symptoms of a heart attack?

What is a Heart Attack?

Heart attack, also called myocardial infarction, occurs when the heart muscle cannot receive enough oxygen due to sudden blockage or clot formation in the heart vessels. When the heart cannot get the oxygen it needs to pump blood to the body, it stops working.

What are the symptoms of a heart attack?

Heart attack can occur without any symptoms in some patients. This condition, also known as silent heart attack, results in death. The most common symptom of a heart attack is severe chest pain. The resulting pain can sometimes be felt in the left arm, back or towards the jaw. These pains may be accompanied by cold sweats, nausea and dizziness, and shortness of breath may also occur. These pains can continue for more than half an hour. In some cases, only shortness of breath or sweating without any pain may be a sign of a heart attack.

As soon as the symptoms of a heart attack appear, emergency help should be sought and it should not be forgotten that even the passing seconds are very valuable. The earlier a heart attack is intervened, the less damage the heart suffers. However, patients with a family history of heart attack should have regular cardiology check-ups. Risk factors such as smoking, unbalanced diet that causes high cholesterol, a sedentary life, excess weight and high blood pressure should be taken into consideration.