Silent Heart Attack
When There Are No Symptoms
Silent Heart Attack |
Back To Main Guide |
Surely I'd Know If I Had A Heart Attack?
Not necessarily. It is estimated that 3 to 4 million Americans have heart attacks every year without knowing it. Sounds pretty hard to believe but it is true. What they in fact experience is a 'silent' heart attack which does not cause typical heart attack symptoms. A silent heart attack typically causes no pain or else pain is so mild it is mistaken for a bout of indigestion or stress. Yet, these types of heart attacks are not less serious than the regular type. They have the same cause and consequence as a regular heart attack and carry the same life expectancy. The only difference is, you just do not know you had it. Very often the first sign a person has is during a routine health screening when it is picked up on an exercise stress test or electrocardiogram ECG (perhaps only years later).
So What Is A Silent Heart Attack? It is a silent ischemia. An ischemia is when blood flow is restricted. Blood can be restricted in any part of the body, but when it happens to the heart it is called a cardiac ischemia. If a cardiac ischemia lasts too long it can cause a heart attack. The part of the heart muscle which is affected dies and can no longer recover. This resulting damage is one of the leading causes of congestive heart failure - where the heart no longer works as efficiently as it used to. If enough muscle is damaged, the person can die. Most people who have regular episodes of angina attacks or chest pain are likely to experience episodes of silent ischemia. What Is The Cause?
Is There Any Way Of Recognizing It? With silent heart attacks you do not get the typical crushing chest pain most people associate with heart attacks. Some people experience nothing while others can get vague symptoms such as generally feeling unwell for a few hours or have a bit of a jaw ache which they put down to indigestion. However, many find afterwards that everyday tasks suddenly become more difficult and make them breathless more easily. The following is a typical example: Jane is a 53 year old woman, who is relatively fit and does not smoke. She suddenly finds herself short of breath when doing ordinary tasks like taking the bins out or carrying her shopping in from the car. Although she initially puts the symptoms down to a virus or flu, she cannot shake the breathlessness, even weeks later. It is only because she knows her risk factors for heart disease are high (her mother had a heart attack at 55) that she visits a chest pain clinic and asks to be checked out. The center carries out some simple heart attack tests using an ECG. This test highlights a dead area of muscle tissue on her heart which indicates a heart attack has occurred. She is also given a blood test to check for cardiac enzymes which are proteins (creatine kinase and troponin) that are released into the bloodstream when the heart is damaged. Jane is asked to think back to when it may have occurred. She remembers playing tennis with her friends and feeling a muscle pull in the chest which she put down to over-exertion. This is probably when the heart attack occurred. She may then be scheduled for a coronary angiography where flexible tubes are inserted into the arteries to check for blockages (image). This provides a more exact diagnosis. How Is It Treated? Why Are There No Obvious Symptoms? What Are The Risk Factors?
|
| Related Articles on Myocardial Infarction
For more on heart issues, see the following: • Coronary Heart Disease in Women Back to Homepage: Womens Health Advice |
WOMENS HEALTH ADVICE: ABOUT A HEART ATTACK |
.gif){kind=small}