Magapplepie,
here is some background information on heart attacks. A heart attack occurs when an area of heart muscle dies or is permanently damaged because of an inadequate supply of oxygen to that area. Most heart attacks are caused by a clot that blocks one of the coronary arteries (the blood vessels that bring blood and oxygen to the heart muscle). A clot in the coronary artery interrupts the flow of blood and oxygen to the heart muscle, leading to the death of heart cells in that area. The damaged heart muscle loses its ability to contract, and the remaining heart muscle needs to compensate for that weakened area. Occasionally, sudden overwhelming stress can trigger a heart attack.
Some of the risk factors for heart attacks include: smoking, high blood pressure, too much fat in your diet, poor blood cholesterol levels (especially high ldl ("bad") cholesterol and low hdl ("good") cholesterol), diabetes, male gender, age and heredity. Many of these risk factors listed are related to being overweight. Do you have any of these risk factors?
Chest pain behind the sternum (breastbone) is a major symptom of heart attacks, but in many cases the pain may be subtle or even completely absent (called a "silent heart attack"), especially in the elderly and diabetics. Often, the pain spreads out from your chest to your arms or shoulder; neck, teeth, or jaw; abdomen or back. The pain typically lasts longer than 20 minutes and is generally not fully relieved by rest. The pain can be intense and severe or quite subtle and confusing. This type of pain can feel like: squeezing or heavy pressure, a tight band on the chest, "an elephant sitting on [your] chest", or bad indigestion.
Other symptoms you may have either alone or along with chest pain include: shortness of breath, cough, lightheadedness - dizziness, fainting, nausea or vomiting, sweating which may be profuse, feeling of "impending doom", and anxiety.
Do you currently have any of these symptoms?
Please let me know if this information has helped you in anyway.
