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His Guide To A Heart Attack: Symptoms In Men
On a rainy December day, Stu Bernstein dashed several blocks through downtown San Francisco in a race to catch the last commuter train home. Shortly after the train left the station, the project manager broke into a cold sweat. Then he felt shortness of breath and indigestion-like pain. When pain was radiating down his left arm, Bernstein realized he was experiencing heart attack symptoms.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men in the U.S, according to the CDC. The latest available American Heart Association figures reveal that in 2003, heart disease killed about 427,000 men As Bernstein would learn, getting help fast can mean the difference between life and death.
Stu Bernstein was familiar with heart attack symptoms, thanks to a job he had once held selling heart drugs to cardiologists. As he started to call 911 on his cell phone, the conductor noticed his distress.
"I'm having a heart attack," Bernstein told him. The conductor relayed news of the emergency, the train sped faster, and an ambulance rushed to the next station only a few minutes away. Paramedics came aboard and transported Bernstein to a hospital emergency room only a quarter-mile down the road. Doctors began working on his heart within 10 minutes after symptoms began.
Bernstein was only 51-far younger than 66, the average age for men to have a first heart attack. He didn't see it coming, he says. "It was a distant thought."
Even though he had a massive heart attack that cost him one-third of his heart function, "I'm alive," he says.
Recognizing Heart Attack Symptoms in Men
When heart attack symptoms strike, the sooner you can get to an emergency room, the better your chances of survival. During a heart attack, blood flow to heart muscle is reduced or cut off, often because a blood clot blocks an artery. When heart muscle is starved of oxygen-rich blood, it dies.
Ideally, treatments to restore blood flow to heart muscle-for example, clot-dissolving drugs or angioplasty--should begin within one hour after heart attack symptoms begin, according to the American Heart Association.
All men should be familiar with these heart attack symptoms:
- Chest pain or discomfort that can feel like uncomfortable pressure, fullness, squeezing or pain in the chest. It may last for more than a few minutes, or it can come and go.
- Discomfort or pain in other areas, such as one or both arms, the neck, jaw, back or stomach
- Shortness of breath, lightheadedness, nausea, or sweating
- Abdominal discomfort that may feel like indigestion
Chest pain is a classic male heart attack symptom, and men know it well. But they're often clueless about other symptoms, experts say.
"If you watch television movies, you get the impression that the only symptom you need to react to is a heavy, crushing elephant on your chest," says Mohamud Daya, MD, MS, an associate professor of emergency services at Oregon Health and Science University.
Being overweight is a heart disease risk factor, but there may be something more women of all shapes and sizes should worry about.
