Heart attack
Blood flow to part of the heart muscle is cut off. Time is muscle.
When to seek care
Call emergency services immediately if there is chest pressure lasting more than a few minutes or that comes and goes, discomfort spreading to the arm, neck, jaw, or back, shortness of breath, cold sweat, nausea, or lightheadedness. Do not drive yourself to the hospital and do not wait to see if it passes.
What it feels like
- Severe pressure or pain in the center of the chest
- Pain spreading to the arm, neck, jaw, or back
- Cold sweating with nausea
- Shortness of breath along with the pain
A heart attack happens when a coronary artery becomes blocked and the muscle depending on it stops receiving blood. That muscle begins to be lost within minutes, and what is lost does not come back. Hence the phrase repeated in cardiology: time is muscle.
Symptoms are not always the ones from the movies. In women, in people with diabetes, and in older adults it can present as shortness of breath, nausea, extreme fatigue, or back discomfort, without the classic crushing pain.
After the event begins work that lasts years: controlling blood pressure, lipids, and glucose, staying on antiplatelet therapy, and monitoring how heart function was left. Follow-up is what prevents the second heart attack.