Heart attack symptoms?
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Typical heart attack symptoms
Symptom Description
Chest discomfort or pain This discomfort or pain can feel like a tight ache, pressure, fullness or squeezing in the center of your chest lasting more than a few minutes. This discomfort may come and go.
Upper body pain Pain or discomfort may spread beyond your chest to your shoulders, arms, back, neck, teeth or jaw. You may have upper body pain with no chest discomfort.
Stomach pain Pain may extend downward into your abdominal area and may feel like heartburn.
Shortness of breath You may pant for breath or try to take in deep breaths. This often occurs before you develop chest discomfort.
Anxiety You may feel a sense of doom or feel as if you're having a panic attack for no apparent reason.
Lightheadedness You may feel dizzy or feel like you might pass out.
Sweating You may suddenly break into a sweat with cold, clammy skin.
Nausea and vomiting You may feel sick to your stomach or vomit.
Heart attack symptoms demand emergency help.
HEAVY PRESSURE IN THE CHEST AREA, PAIN RADIATING DOWN THE LEFT OR RIGHT ARM, EVEN UP INTO YOUR JAW. SHORTNESS OF BREATH. PERFUSED SWEATING, NAUSEA AND CHEST PAIN. IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING ANY OF THESE SYMPTOMS GO TO YOUR E.R. IMMEDIATELY
tightness in chest
Heart attacks have many variable signs and symptoms. Not all people who have heart attacks experience the same ones or experience them to the same degree. Many heart attacks aren't as dramatic as the ones you've seen on TV or in the movies.
For example, heart attack symptoms in women, in older adults and in people with diabetes tend to be less pronounced. Some people have no symptoms at all. Still, the more signs and symptoms you have, the greater the likelihood that you may be having a heart attack.
Warning signs and symptoms of a heart attack include:
Pressure, fullness or a squeezing pain in the center of your chest that lasts for more than a few minutes
Pain extending beyond your chest to your shoulder, arm, back, or even to your teeth and jaw
Increasing episodes of chest pain
Prolonged pain in the upper abdomen
Shortness of breath
Sweating
Impending sense of doom
Lightheadedness
Fainting
Nausea and vomiting
A heart attack can occur anytime — at work or play, while you're resting, or while you're in motion. Some heart attacks strike suddenly, but many people who experience a heart attack have warning signs and symptoms hours, days or weeks in advance. The earliest predictor of an attack may be recurrent chest pain (angina) that's triggered by exertion and relieved by rest. Angina is caused by temporary, insufficient blood flow to the heart. The medical term for insufficient blood flow to the heart is "cardiac ischemia."
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