What Are the Typical Heart Attack Symptoms?

What is a heart attack?

A heart attack occurs when blood and oxygen to the heart are blocked, according to the American Heart Association (AHA). They note that cholesterol deposits can build up over time, forming plaques in the heart's arteries. If a plaque ruptures, a blood clot can form. The plaques or blood clots can block arteries, causing a heart attack. This lack of blood flow can also cause the tissue in the heart muscle to die.

What are the Symptoms of a Heart Attack?

The AHA lists the following as the most common symptoms of a heart attack:

• Chest discomfort or pain - This discomfort or pain can feel like a tight ache, pressure, fullness, or squeezing in the chest lasting more than a few minutes. This discomfort might also come and go.
• Upper body pain - Pain or discomfort may spread beyond the chest to the shoulders, arms, back, neck, teeth, or jaw (this is more common in women). Some people have upper body pain with no chest discomfort.
• Stomach pain - Pain may also extend downward into the belly area and may feel like heartburn or indigestion.
• Shortness of breath - You may gasp for breath or try to take in deep breaths. This often occurs before any chest discomfort. Some people don't have chest discomfort at all.
• Anxiety - You may feel a sense of doom or feel as if you're having a panic attack for no apparent reason.
• Feeling lightheaded - In addition to feeling chest pressure, you may feel dizzy or feel like you might pass out (this is more likely to happen if you have shortness of breath).
• 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 palpitations - You may feel as if your heart is skipping beats, or you may just be very aware that your heart is beating.

The AHA also notes that women may have atypical symptoms such as brief or sharp pain felt in the neck, arm, jaw, or back. Some heart attacks strike suddenly, while others have warning signs for hours, days, or weeks in advance. A silent heart attack happens without any symptoms at all.

Chest pain or pressure (called angina) that keeps happening and doesn't go away with rest may be an early warning sign. Angina is caused by a temporary decrease in blood flow to the heart, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

What to do if I or Someone has a Heart Attack?

If you or someone you know is having symptoms of a heart attack, getting medical attention right away is important for the best outcome. Delaying medical attention can increase the chance of heart damage. The AHA recommends the following steps:

1. Call for emergency medical help
2. Start CPR if the person doesn't have a pulse or isn't breathing
3. Take aspirin if available
4. Take nitroglycerin if it is prescribed to them already

Heart Attack Causes

Coronary artery disease is the cause of most heart attacks, according to the AHA. This disease is when one or more of the coronary arteries (arteries that supply the heart with blood) are blocked by plaques or blood clots. There are a few different types of blockages, listed by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute:

• A complete blockage
• A partial blockage

Although blockages of a coronary artery are usually the cause of a heart attack, there can be other causes as well, notes the AHA. Some of these other causes include:

• Coronary artery spasm (This is a severe squeezing of a blood vessel that's not blocked—caused by early hardening of the vessel due to smoking or other risk factors).
• Certain infections (such as COVID-19 and other viral infections may cause damage to the heart muscle)
• Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD), a life-threatening condition is caused by a tear inside a heart artery.

Heart Attack Risk Factors

Heart attack risk factors include:

• Age - Men age 45 and older and women age 55 and older are more likely to have a heart attack than are younger men and women, according to the AHA.
• Tobacco use - This includes smoking and long-term exposure to secondhand smoke, according to the AHA.
• High blood pressure - Over time, high blood pressure can damage arteries that lead to the heart, according to the AHA. They also note that high blood pressure that occurs with other conditions, such as obesity, high cholesterol, or diabetes, increases the risk even more.
• High cholesterol or triglycerides - A high level of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (the "bad" cholesterol) is most likely to narrow arteries, according to the AHA. A high level of certain blood fats called triglycerides also increases heart attack risk.
• Obesity - Obesity is linked with high blood pressure, diabetes, high levels of triglycerides and bad cholesterol, and low levels of good cholesterol, according to the AHA.
• Diabetes - Blood sugar rises when the body doesn't make a hormone called insulin or can't use it correctly, according to the AHA. High blood sugar increases the risk of a heart attack, they note.
• Metabolic syndrome - This syndrome is a combination of at least three of the following things: enlarged waist (central obesity), high blood pressure, low good cholesterol, high triglycerides, and high blood sugar. Having metabolic syndrome makes you twice as likely to develop heart disease than if you don't have it, according to the AHA.
• Family history of heart attacks. If your brother, sister, parent, or grandparent had an early heart attack (by age 55 for males and by age 65 for females), you might be at increased risk, according to the AHA.
• Not enough exercise - A lack of physical activity (sedentary lifestyle) is linked to a higher risk of heart attacks, according to the AHA.
• Unhealthy diet - A diet high in sugars, animal fats, processed foods, trans fats, and salt increases the risk of heart attacks, according to the AHA. They recommend that you eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, fiber, and healthy fats instead.
• Stress - Emotional stress, such as extreme anger, may increase the risk of a heart attack, according to the AHA.
• Recreational drug use - Cocaine and amphetamines are stimulants that can trigger a coronary artery spasm that can cause a heart attack, according to the AHA.
• A history of preeclampsia - This condition causes high blood pressure during pregnancy and increases the lifetime risk of heart disease, according to the AHA.
• Autoimmune conditions - Having a condition such as rheumatoid arthritis or lupus can increase the risk of a heart attack, according to the AHA.

For a medical emergency, dial 911 or visit your closest emergency room immediately.