Heart attacks- you probably don’t want to think about it. But, if you learn the signs of a heart attack and what steps to take, you can save your life. Here are the common symptoms of a heart attack.

Many people think a heart attack is sudden and intense, like a “movie” heart attack, where a person clutches his or her chest and falls over. But this is not true.You should know that not every heart attack symptom is going to be the left arm hurting. You may have an intense pain in the jaw line, which is one of the common symptoms of heart attack.

Nausea and intense sweating are also common symptoms. 60% of people who have a heart attack while they are asleep do not wake up. Pain in the jaw can wake you from a sound sleep. The truth is that many heart attacks start slowly, as a mild pain or discomfort. If you feel such a symptom, you may not be sure what’s wrong. Your symptoms may even come and go. Even those who have had a heart attack may not recognize their symptoms, because the next attack can have entirely different ones.

Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts for more than a few minutes, or goes away and comes back. The discomfort can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness, or pain.

Pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw, or stomach is also the symptoms of heart attack.

Shortness of breath often comes along with chest discomfort. But it also can occur before chest discomfort.

Other symptoms may include breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea, or light-headedness.

Let’s be careful and be aware. The more we know the better chance we could survive.

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 4th, 2008 at 10:12 am and is filed under Anatomy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.