A heart attack occurs when a coronary artery, which supplies blood to the heart, gets blocked completely. There is a severe shortage of blood supply to the heart muscle. A heart attack is a medical emergency and needs immediate treatment to restore blood flow to the heart. A heart attack is also called a myocardial infarction (MI). Heart attack is caused by several risk factors like diabetes and high blood pressure. In this article, we are discussing common symptoms of myocardial infarction (MI).

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Table of Contents

Symptoms of a heart attack or myocardial infarction (MI)

Chest pain

This is the most common symptom of a heart attack. It can be in the center of the chest or the left side of the chest but sometimes anywhere from the jaw to the upper abdomen. Chest pain can be absent during a heart attack, especially in women, diabetics, and older people. Sometimes pain can be completely absent during a heart attack.

The character of the pain varies from person to person. Few feel the pain like pressure in the chest area, or others describe it as heaviness or crushing. Few report it as tightness around the chest or squeezing across the chest. Few feel it like heartburn or indigestion.

Pain often lasts more than a few minutes. For a few, it can stay there for 12 hours also. Few people have chest pain which comes and goes intermittently.

Pain in other parts of the body

The chest pain can spread from the chest area to the arms (usually the left arm, but it can affect both arms), jaw, neck, upper back, and upper portion of the tummy. These are often neglected symptoms of myocardial infarction.

The left arm of a person is paining during a heart attack. Left-arm pain may signal underlying heart diseases like myocardial infarction. — Left-arm pain may signal underlying myocardial infarction.

Other symptoms of a heart attack

Sweating, lightheadedness, or dizziness can occur during a heart attack. Sweating often accompanies chest pain in myocardial infarction. Few people may experience lightheadedness or dizziness during a heart attack.

man with shortness of breath with myocardial infarction-dm heart care clinic — Shortness of breath during a heart attack.

Shortness of breath is another common symptom of a heart attack. It can happen at rest or while doing a little bit of physical activity.

Patients may feel anxiety, restlessness, a sense of impending doom, or tension during a heart attack.

Loss of consciousness can be a symptom of a heart attack. Older people may become disoriented. The heavy pounding of the heart can accompany a heart attack.

Few people also vomit during a heart attack. Cough is a rare symptom of a heart attack. The severity of the chest pain during a heart attack varies from mild to very severe. Patients with mild pain often neglect it as indigestion.

While the most common symptom in both men and women is chest pain, women are more likely to have other symptoms such as shortness of breath, feeling or being sick, and back or jaw pain.

DM heart clinic in Attapur has a heart specialist in diagnosing and treating myocardial infarction. We take an ECG test to diagnose a heart attack within 10 minutes of arrival. Call us at 8019376362 if you got a heart attack.