I hope you’ll get diagnosed and treated long before heart disease leads to a heart attack, but you should know the warning signs just in case. Unlike in the movies, where a person having a heart attack gropes his chest (and in the movies, unlike reality, it’s almost always a man) and falls to the floor, the symptoms of a reallife heart attack are often more subtle. They differ between men and women and from person to person. Generally, men will report the following:
• Pain or discomfort in the chest that radiates to the shoulder or arms, to the upper back near the shoulder blades, or to the neck or jaw
• Uncomfortable pressure, tightness, fullness, or ache at the center of the chest
• Shortness of breath, sweating, nausea, or dizziness
Women, on the other hand, usually report the following:
• Pain in both arms or shoulders
• Chest cramping or dull pain between the breasts
• Shortness of breath
• Feeling of indigestion
• Lower abdominal pain
• Severe fatigue (the least specific symptom, usually not caused by a heart attack.
• Pain or discomfort in the chest that radiates to the shoulder or arms, to the upper back near the shoulder blades, or to the neck or jaw
• Uncomfortable pressure, tightness, fullness, or ache at the center of the chest
• Shortness of breath, sweating, nausea, or dizziness
Women, on the other hand, usually report the following:
• Pain in both arms or shoulders
• Chest cramping or dull pain between the breasts
• Shortness of breath
• Feeling of indigestion
• Lower abdominal pain
• Severe fatigue (the least specific symptom, usually not caused by a heart attack.
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