Age. Men age 45 and older and women age 55 and older are more likely to have a heart attack than are younger men and women. Tobacco use. This includes smoking and long-term exposure to secondhand smoke.
Is there an average age range for heart attacks? According to a 2018 report , the average age for a first heart attack is 65.6 years old for men and 72 years old for women.
Now 1 in 5 heart attack patients are younger than 40 years of age. Here's another troubling fact to highlight the problem: Having a heart attack in your 20s or early 30s is more common. Between the years 2000-2016, the heart attack rate increased by 2% every year in this young age group.
Even though heart attacks are typically associated with older adults, they can occur at any age. In the United States, many people have health conditions (like obesity and high blood pressure) that raise the risk of a heart attack in their 20s and 30s.
Key risk factors of having a heart attack at a young age include: Substance abuse or excessive alcohol use. Smoking. High blood pressure.
Checking your pulse
Taking a pulse is a very important part of heart health checks. It measures the number of heart beats per minute, assesses if the pulse is regular or not, and identifies the strength of the pulse. Your nurse or doctor may check your pulse, or you can check it yourself.
A heart attack may strike suddenly, but most people have warning signs and symptoms hours, days or weeks beforehand. One of the earliest warning signs of an impending heart attack is chest pain, or angina, that occurs repeatedly because of exertion and is then eased by rest.
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.
Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center or left side of the chest that lasts for more than a few minutes or that goes away and comes back. The discomfort can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness, or pain. Feeling weak, light-headed, or faint. You may also break out into a cold sweat.
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.)
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.
After a first heart attack, most people go on to live a long, productive life. However, around 20 percent of patients age 45 and older will have another heart attack within five years of their first.
Fatality rates used to be as high as 50%. However, more than 90%⁷ of people today survive a heart attack. Surviving a myocardial infarction is primarily due to recognizing the symptoms, getting prompt treatment, and prevention awareness.
Here's a surprising fact: nearly half of people who have a heart attack don't realize it at the time. These so-called silent heart attacks are only diagnosed after the event, when a recording of the heart's electrical activity (an electrocardiogram or ECG) or another test reveals evidence of damage to the heart.
If Low Power Mode is turned on, you won't receive any high or low heart rate or irregular rhythm notifications. Learn more about Low Power Mode. Apple Watch cannot detect heart attacks. If you ever experience chest pain, pressure, tightness, or what you think is a heart attack, call emergency services immediately.
There is nothing anyone can do to stop a heart attack when it is happening. However, there are things people can do to help avoid having a heart attack in the first place. These include eating healthy, being physically active, not smoking, and getting plenty of sleep.
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.
Cardiophobia is defined as an anxiety disorder of persons characterized by repeated complaints of chest pain, heart palpitations, and other somatic sensations accompanied by fears of having a heart attack and of dying.
The difference is that, when extra heartbeats in the upper and lower chambers are the cause of abnormal rhythm, symptoms may feel like an initial skip or hard thumping beat followed by a racing heart. When anxiety is the trigger, heart rate typically increases steadily rather than suddenly.
Although chest pain is common to both a panic attack and a heart attack, the characteristics of the pain often differ. During a panic attack, chest pain is usually sharp or stabbing and localized in the middle of the chest. Chest pain from a heart attack may resemble pressure or a squeezing sensation.
Dr. Xu says the majority of patients experience somewhat typical symptoms, such as radiating chest pain, heaviness or discomfort, heart palpitations, cold sweats, and shortness of breath.
“I understand that heart attacks have beginnings and on occasion, signs of an impending heart attack may include chest discomfort, shortness of breath, shoulder and/or arm pain and weakness. These may occur hours or weeks before the actual heart attack.