Each year, approximately 1.3 million Americans experience a heart attack, reports the American Heart Association. About 34 percent of people who suffer heart attacks die as a result, which makes it crucial to recognize the signs and symptoms of a heart attack in order to obtain prompt medical attention.

Types of Symptoms

Symptoms of a heart attack include chest and stomach pain, shortness of breath or panting, anxiety, dizziness, fainting, light-headedness, sweating with clammy skin, nausea, and vomiting, reports the Mayo Clinic. Women are less likely to experience chest pain and are more prone to other symptoms, such as heartburn, unusual fatigue, and pain in the neck, jaw, shoulder, or upper back.

Features

The pain of a heart attack often feels like a squeezing pressure in your chest and may travel downward into your arms, upward into your teeth, or radiate throughout your body to hurt in your back or stomach. Lying down or resting does not alleviate the pain of a heart attack.

Time Frame

The pain and discomfort of a heart attack are persistent and usually last for 20 minutes or more, reports the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

Signs

In addition to your symptoms, doctors look for other signs of a heart attack to diagnose the condition. These include a rapid pulse, high or low blood pressure levels, and crackling sounds in your lungs or whooshing sounds around your heart that can be heard through a stethoscope.

Warning

If you experience any of the signs of a heart attack, seek emergency medical attention rather than try to diagnose your symptoms, recommends the Mayo Clinic.

Source:

Mayo Clinic: Heart Attack Symptoms

U.S. National Library of Medicine: Heart Attack

Americah Heart Association: Heart Attack and Angina Statistics