With urgent treatment, most people will recover from a heart attack and can live fulfilling lives. Making healthful lifestyle choices and following the recommended treatment plan can reduce the risk of experiencing future heart attacks.
Heart attacks can be life threatening if not treated immediately. It is important to understand the signs and symptoms of a heart attack, but how long does a heart attack last? Heart attacks can last anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. Every situation is different.
Since some heart attack symptoms lack the intensity of classic heart attacks, they may go untreated. Each minute a heart attack goes untreated, your heart loses muscle cells. Restoring blood flow to your heart is imperative before critical heart tissue dies or is damaged.
This discomfort or pain can feel like a tight ache, pressure, fullness or squeezing in the chest lasting more than a few minutes. This discomfort may come and go.
Sweating, shortness of breath, nausea, dizziness, and fatigue are among the other possible symptoms. However, it is important to remember that not everyone will experience each symptom, and the symptoms can vary in intensity and duration.
Mild heart attack symptoms might only occur for two to five minutes then stop with rest. A full heart attack with complete blockage lasts much longer, sometimes for more than 20 minutes.
Signs of a heart attack include:
- Pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach. - Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort. - Other signs such as breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness. (If you're experiencing any of these symptoms, call 9-1-1 immediately.)
In a “mini” heart attack, blood flow to the heart is partially blocked. Symptoms include chest pain and are similar to those of a heart attack, but there is less damage to the heart. The technical term for a “mini” heart attack is a non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI).
People who have a silent heart attack have symptoms not normally associated with a heart attack, mild symptoms or no symptoms at all. They may not realize they've had a heart attack. With a silent heart attack, symptoms can make you feel like: You have the flu.
An ECG can show evidence of a previous heart attack or one that's currently happening. The patterns on the ECG may help determine which part of the heart has been damaged, as well as the extent of the damage. Blood and oxygen supply to the heart.
SMI warning signs
It can feel like an uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, or pain. Discomfort in other upper-body areas, such as one or both arms, the back, the neck, the jaw, or the stomach. Shortness of breath before or during chest discomfort. Breaking out in a cold sweat, or feeling nauseated or lightheaded.
Other causes of chest pain
The chest pressure that accompanies heart attack is often confused with heartburn (acid indigestion). It also may indicate: Angina, when blood supply to the heart muscle is restricted but not blocked. Lung issues, including infection (pneumonia) or a blood clot (pulmonary embolism)
An electrocardiogram (EKG) is the most common initial test and may be given within minutes of your arrival at the hospital. An EKG will check whether you may be having a heart attack. Based on the results of the EKG, your doctor may then order more tests, ask you about your medical history, and do a physical exam.
Those with an anxiety disorder have most likely experienced a panic or anxiety attack at some point in their lives. The symptoms can closely mimic heart attacks for some people—they may feel chest pain, shortness of breath and heart palpitations, or a racing heartbeat.
Taking aspirin during a heart attack is safe and recommended. If you think you're having a heart attack, call 911 or emergency medical services. Don't delay calling for help. Aspirin alone won't save your life if you're having a heart attack.
A silent heart attack is a heart attack that has few, if any, symptoms or has symptoms not recognized as a heart attack. A silent heart attack might not cause chest pain or shortness of breath, which are typically associated with a heart attack.
Some heart attacks strike suddenly. But many people have warning signs and symptoms hours, days or weeks in advance. Chest pain or pressure (angina) that keeps happening and doesn't go away with rest may be an early warning sign. Angina is caused by a temporary decrease in blood flow to the heart.
The heart is unable to regenerate heart muscle after a heart attack and lost cardiac muscle is replaced by scar tissue. Scar tissue does not contribute to cardiac contractile force and the remaining viable cardiac muscle is thus subject to a greater hemodynamic burden.
Is it possible to stop a heart attack when it is in progress? It is not possible to stop a heart attack if one is already in progress. The only way to stop a heart attack is to seek emergency medical attention. Some people say that coughing will help to stop a heart attack by keeping the blood flowing.
Yes. A heart attack can actually happen without a person knowing it. You can understand why it is called a "silent" heart attack.
Not all heart attacks require hospitalization, though some (particularly NSTEMIs) will require an overnight stay in the hospital.
The American College of Cardiology reports that the earliest documented case of coronary atherosclerosis – a build-up of plaque in the arteries that can cause a heart attack – was in an Egyptian princess who lived between 1580 and 1550 B.C. The study found that heart disease was more common in ancient times that ...
Pulmonary Embolism (blood clot in the lung)
One lung problem, pulmonary embolism, can mimic a heart attack and is equally serious. A pulmonary embolism is a blood clot in an artery in the lungs. This clot cuts off blood flow, and the lung tissue begins to die.