Signs of Heart Attack & Stroke

Posted: Feb. 1, 2005

Call 911 if you think someone is having a heart attack or stroke.

Symptoms of a heart attack:

• Chest discomfort. Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts for more than a few minutes, or goes away and comes back. The discomfort can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain.
• Discomfort in other areas of the upper body. Can include pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.
• Shortness of breath. Often comes along with chest discomfort. But it also can occur before chest discomfort.
• Other symptoms. May include breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea, vomiting or light-headedness.

Women are somewhat more likely than men to have shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting and back or jaw pain during a heart attack.

What is a heart attack?
If the blood supply to the heart is cut off, a heart attack results. Cells in the heart muscle that do not receive enough oxygen-carrying blood begin to die. The more time that passes without treatment to restore blood flow, the greater the damage to the heart. Almost half of people who have a heart attack will die from it.

Having high blood pressure or high blood cholesterol, smoking, and having had a previous heart attack, stroke or diabetes can increase a person’s chances of developing heart disease and having a heart attack.

Symptoms of a stroke:

• Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arms or legs
• Sudden confusion or trouble speaking or understanding others
• Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
• Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, or loss of balance or coordination
• Sudden severe headache with no known cause

What is a stroke?
A stroke (or cerebrovascular accident) occurs when the blood supply to the brain is cut off (an ischemic stroke) or when a blood vessel bursts (a hemorrhagic stroke). Most strokes are of the ischemic type.

Without oxygen, the brain cells begin to die. Death or permanent disability can result. High blood pressure, smoking and having had a previous stroke or heart attack increase a person’s chances of having a stroke.

According to the American Heart Association, about 700,000 people in the United States suffer a stroke each year. Four million Americans who have survived a stroke are living with impairments and 15 to 30 percent are permanently disabled. With timely treatment, the risk of death and disability from stroke can be lowered.

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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