Heart diseases “get younger” every year, and if earlier a heart attack could only happen in an elderly person or a patient with a congenital disease, today an unexpected attack is increasingly chasing young people. To provide timely assistance, you need to know how to determine a heart attack and what are its first signs.
Signs of a heart attack
Some are familiar with a disease such as a heart attack - symptoms, the first signs of it cannot be confused with other diseases. With this disease, the heart muscle is affected, often this is caused by a violation of its blood supply due to blockage of atherosclerotic plaques in one of the heart arteries. The affected muscle dies, necrosis develops. Cells begin to die 20 minutes after the blood supply stops. The first signs of a heart attack:
- severe chest pain extending to the left shoulder, half of the neck, arm, to the space between the shoulder blades;
- feeling of fear;
- drawing pains in the limbs;
- nitroglycerin does not provide relief;
- an attack can last from 10 minutes to several hours;
- arrhythmic form is accompanied by rapid pulse;
- blood pressure drops sharply;
- with an asthmatic form, suffocation occurs, the skin suddenly turns pale;
- cerebral infarction is accompanied by loss of consciousness, the symptoms of this form resemble a stroke: the patient's speech becomes incomprehensible, coordination of movements is disturbed.
If you have symptoms, you should urgently call an ambulance, before her arrival, you can take nitroglycerin tablets (0.5 mg) at intervals of 15 minutes, but not more than three times, so that there is no sharp drop in pressure. At risk are mainly the elderly, active smokers. Diabetes mellitus, alcoholism, obesity can become the cause of an attack.
woman
The fairer sex is also at risk of undermining their health with a heart attack. This is due to the production of estrogens, which affect the expansion of blood vessels and the favorable functioning of the heart muscle. But with a hormonal failure (ovulation, pregnancy, menopause), estrogen production is reduced. And this leads to malfunctions in the work of the cardiovascular system. How to recognize a heart attack in women? An attack can begin a few hours before the peak of exacerbation, it is important to understand this in time and seek help. The first symptoms of a heart attack in women:
- burning in the upper abdomen;
- severe pain that radiates to the left arm and part of the chest;
- increased sweating;
- pain in the upper abdomen;
- heaviness in the chest;
- stabbing heart pain;
- numbness of the limbs;
- aching toothache;
- discomfort in the jaw;
- pain in the back of the head;
- vomiting reflex;
- dyspnea;
- a sharp decrease in blood pressure;
- dizziness;
- nausea;
- bronchospasm;
- panic attacks;
- swelling of the legs and feet;
- anxiety;
- slurred speech;
- feeling of fear;
- pulmonary edema.
In men
The death of heart cells due to blockage by a thrombus of one of the coronary vessels causes a heart attack, more often than others it occurs in the stronger sex. Treatment of such diseases, including stroke and angina pectoris, cannot be carried out at home, you should definitely seek help from specialists, otherwise there will be unpleasant consequences. The attack can be spontaneous (primary) or repeated at regular intervals. The first symptoms of a heart attack in a man:
- dyspnea;
- pressing sharp pains in the left arm, chest area, shoulder blade;
- conditions of oxygen deficiency;
- toothache;
- chest numbness;
- a state of nausea;
- lowering blood pressure;
- general sluggish state of the body;
- arrhythmia;
- heavy sweating;
- sleep disturbance;
- dental problems (periodontal disease, bleeding gums);
- arrhythmia (cause - dysfunction of the coronary artery).
Myocardial infarction - symptoms
An acute heart attack is accompanied by severe chest pains that can even cause shock. Sometimes the symptoms of a heart attack are vague, especially for women. In this case, the attack is easy to mistake for fatigue or flu, this is especially dangerous, because the patient may not understand the seriousness of the disease. If you do not seek help, the risk of death increases several times. To prevent the disease, you need to know the main symptoms of myocardial infarction:
- pain and discomfort in the chest;
- nausea, vomiting;
- pain in the upper body, radiating to the back, arms, neck, teeth;
- labored breathing;
- anxiety;
- panic attack;
- dizziness;
- profuse sweating;
- fainting is possible.
pressure in a heart attack
Certain conditions help to recognize the signs of an attack in time. As a rule, the precursors of a heart attack (sleep disturbance, fatigue) often occur a few days before the moment when the blood flow is blocked and necrosis begins. The pressure rises during a heart attack. But this is only on the first day, then it falls. Low blood pressure can lead to the development of anemia of the brain, which is accompanied by fainting and clouding of consciousness. Normalization of pressure is considered a positive phenomenon.
pulse
If a person's pulse begins to quicken, then this is a signal for the development of the disease. As a rule, the pulse during a heart attack is 50-60 beats per minute. The skin, when felt in severe cases, is often cold, while the pulse is weakly palpable, interruptions are noted. The more extensive the attack, the more pronounced the tachycardia (rapid heartbeat) and the faster the pulse.
pain
A heart attack is accompanied by severe chest pains that radiate to the left arm. In this case, a person feels tingling fingers. In certain cases, pain from the arm can turn into numbness, reflected in the neck, shoulders, jaw. Abdominal pains are possible, unpleasant sensations are noted in the stomach, the navel zone. The duration of pain in a heart attack is approximately 20 minutes. With angina pectoris and stroke, discomfort can be the same, so a specialist can accurately diagnose. There are atypical forms of pain that masquerade as other ailments:
- The asthmatic form of the disease resembles an asthma attack. A person has a cough, a feeling of chest congestion. The facial expression is exhausted, the lips are blue, the breathing is noisy.
- Abdominal ailment is characterized by pain in the upper abdomen. The disease is accompanied by vomiting, nausea, bloating, hiccups, and diarrhea.
- The cerebral form is characterized by nausea, loss of consciousness, abdominal pain.
Heart attack on the legs - symptoms
Some people with a high threshold of sensitivity, hypoxia and hypertension of the heart muscle may not feel obvious symptoms of a heart attack, so they endure it on their feet. In many cases, we are talking about microinfarcts, when only a small area of the heart muscle is affected. At the same time, there is no prolonged and sharp pain, pressure surges, malaise, nausea are felt from the obvious signs. Women are less susceptible to such attacks than men, due to their greater resistance to pain and body characteristics. Signs of a heart attack in men on the legs:
- pallor of the skin;
- pulmonary edema;
- a sharp drop in blood pressure;
- violation of the heart rhythm (arrhythmia);
- weakening of the pulse;
- panic attack.
kidneys
A rare variant of ischemic kidney disease is a heart attack. Its appearance provokes a complete and sudden cessation of blood flow through the large arterial renal vessel. Infrequently, a kidney infarction occurs - its symptoms depend on the extent of the lesion. With a small attack, signs of the disease may be completely absent. A major malaise is manifested by an admixture of blood in the urine and a sharp pain in the back. More can be developed:
- arterial hypertension;
- renal chronic insufficiency;
- decrease in diuresis;
- body temperature rises;
- severe nausea;
- vomit;
- a huge content of urates, if we consider the analysis of urine.
