Heart Attack Information
Key Information
- Warning signs differ from person to person. Heart attacks are not always sudden or severe. Many start slowly with only mild pain or discomfort. Some people do not get chest pain at all—only discomfort in their upper body.
- No two heart attacks are the same. Someone who has already had a heart attack may have different symptoms the second time.
- People who have had a heart attack are at increased risk of having another.
- Knowing the warning signs of a heart attack and acting quickly can reduce the damage to your heart muscle and increase your chance of survival. Too many people lose their lives because they wait too long to call Triple Zero (000).
- Heart disease is the leading single cause of death in Australia with one person dying from a heart attack every 46 minutes.
- More than 50% of heart attack deaths occur out of hospital.
- About 25% of those who have a heart attack die within one hour of their first ever symptom.
- On average, one Australian will be hospitalised with a heart attack every nine minutes.
- Patient delay, the time from the onset of heart attack warning signs to when a patient initiates seeking medical care i.e. calling Triple Zero (000), remains the principal delay to receiving early treatment for heart attack.
Heart attack warning signs
The warning signs of heart attack differ from person to person. Symptoms can come on slowly or develop over minutes. They usually last for at least 10 minutes and you may get just one of these symptoms, or a combination of them.
- Discomfort or pain in the centre of your chest. This can often feel like a heaviness, tightness or pressure. People who have had a heart attack have commonly described it as like “an elephant sitting on my chest” or “a belt that’s been tightened around my chest”. Some say it feels like “bad indigestion”. The discomfort may spread to different parts of your upper body.
- Discomfort in parts of your upper body. You may not get any chest pain—only discomfort in your arm/s, shoulder/s, neck, jaw or back. It is common for the discomfort to spread through these parts of your upper body. You may have a choking feeling in your throat. Your arms may feel heavy or useless.
- Other symptoms. As well as pain or discomfort in your chest or upper body, you may also feel short of breath, feel nauseous, have a cold sweat or feel dizzy or light-headed.
If you have heart attack warning signs, you should:
1. Stop. Immediately stop what you are doing and rest.
2. Talk. If you are with someone, tell them what you are feeling.
If any of your symptoms:
are severe
get worse quickly
have lasted 10 minutes
3. Call for help now!
Depending where you are, call 000 or RFDS. Ask for an ambulance. Don’t hang up. Wait for advice from the operator.
Heart attack prevention
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the term used for heart, stroke and blood vessel diseases. It is the leading cause of death in Australia, accounting for 34% of all deaths in Australia in 2006. Cardiovascular disease kills one Australian nearly every 10 minutes.
There are many things you can do to help prevent a heart attack. Here are some:
Healthy Lifestyle Choices
Healthy lifestyle choices to help prevent heart attack include:
- Following a heart-healthy diet. See below for details. These changes can help lower high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol.
- Losing weight if you're overweight or obese.
- Quitting smoking.
- Doing physical activity to improve heart fitness. Ask your doctor how much and what kinds of physical activity are safe for you.
Treat Related Conditions
In addition to making lifestyle changes, you can help prevent heart attacks by treating conditions you have that make a heart attack more likely:
- High blood cholesterol. You may need medicine to lower your cholesterol if diet and exercise aren't enough.
- High blood pressure. You may need medicine to keep your blood pressure under control.
- Diabetes (high blood sugar). If you have diabetes, control your blood sugar levels through diet and physical activity (as your doctor recommends). If needed, take medicine as prescribed.
Diet Specifics
Here are some specific things you can do with your diet:
- Eat foods that are low in fat, cholesterol and salt. Eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy products that can help protect your heart. Legumes, low-fat sources of protein and certain types of fish also can reduce your risk of heart disease.
- Limiting certain fats you eat also is important. Of the types of fat — saturated, polyunsaturated, monounsaturated and trans fat — saturated fat and trans fat increase the risk of coronary artery disease by raising blood cholesterol levels. Major sources of saturated fat include beef, butter, cheese, milk, and coconut and palm oils. There's growing evidence that trans fat may be worse than saturated fat because unlike saturated fat, it both raises your low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or "bad," cholesterol, and lowers your high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or "good," cholesterol. Sources of trans fat include some deep-fried fast foods, bakery products, packaged snack foods, margarines and crackers. Look at the label for the term "partially hydrogenated" to avoid trans fat.
- Heart-healthy eating isn't all about cutting back, though. Most people, for instance, need to add more fruits and vegetables to their diet — with a goal of five to 10 servings a day. Eating that many fruits and vegetables can not only help prevent heart disease, but also may help prevent cancer.
- Omega-3 fatty acids, a type of polyunsaturated fat, may decrease your risk of heart attack, protect against irregular heartbeats and lower blood pressure. Some fish are a good natural source of omega-3s. (However, pregnant women and women of childbearing age should avoid certain fish that contain levels of mercury high enough to pose a danger to a developing foetus.) But for most others, the health benefits of fish outweigh any risks associated with mercury. Omega-3s are present in smaller amounts in flaxseed (linseed) oil, walnut oil, soybean oil and canola oil, and they can also be found in supplements.
- Following a heart-healthy diet also means drinking alcohol only in moderation — no more than two drinks a day for men, one a day for women. At that moderate level, alcohol can have a protective effect on your heart. Above that, it becomes a health hazard.
Ref: National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (USA)http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/HeartAttack/HeartAttack_Prevention.html
Mayo Clinic
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/heart-disease-prevention/WO00041