Could You Recognize a Heart Attack?
posted in Nutrition and Weight Loss |Could You Recognize a Heart Attack?
T here have been so many studies done about the treatment of heart attacks over the past several years. Most of them have been quite impressive. In more recent studies, experts have been finding that many of these heart attacks often go unrecognized. And let’s face it — if the patient or the doctor don’t know if an actual heart attack has happened, or is happening, all the studies in the world aren’t going to help.
One recent study about unrecognized heart attacks suggests that 43 percent — or more than four in 10 — may go undetected when they occur, and more often in women than men. While other experts say that estimate is too high, they concede that unrecognized attacks are a problem.
On one point all agree: Both women and men need to know the warning signs of a heart attack and to seek immediate help if they suspect one.
What’s the worst thing that can happen if you’re wrong? You’ll be sent home from the emergency room, secure in the knowledge it was a false alarm.
It’s not uncommon for people to ignore the warning signs of a heart attack. Sometimes, it’s a case of denial. Other times, people wrongly write it off as indigestion or stress.
According to the American Heart Association, the warning signs of a heart attack typically include:
* Chest discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes, or that goes away and then returns. It can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain.
* Discomfort in other areas of the upper body, such as pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.
* Shortness of breath, with or without chest discomfort.
* A cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness.
Women are more likely than men to experience such symptoms as shortness of breath, nausea and vomiting, and back or jaw pain.
Dutch researchers reported the finding that 43 percent of heart attacks are unrecognized in a study published earlier this year in the European Heart Journal. They analyzed the electrocardiographs (ECGs) of more than 4,000 men and women over age 55, all participants in the so-called Rotterdam Study.
The researchers gave the men and women a baseline ECG screening during the years 1990 to 1993, then repeated the ECGs during either 1994 to 1995, or 1997 to 2000. The imaging tests revealed that over 4 out of 10 heart attacks went unrecognized — including one-third of attacks in men and more than one-half in women, the study said.
The researchers think the results could apply to any developed country.
Dr. Susan Bennett, director of George Washington University Hospital’s Women’s Heart program, said even a doctor may not recognize a heart attack, especially in women. “Physicians typically under-evaluate and under-treat women,” she said.
A special report published last year in the journal Circulation polled 500 physicians online, including primary-care doctors, obstetricians/gynecologists and cardiologists. They were given an experimental case study and asked to categorize the patient’s level of heart-disease risk. The authors found that women at intermediate risk were more likely to be assigned to a lower-risk category than men with identical risk profiles.
Bennett said the decision to evaluate a patient for a possible heart attack depends on the “index of suspicion.” And often, that suspicion is not high enough for women, she said. “When they [doctors] see a woman who is white, on the thinner side, they get that reflex that this is a lower-risk person,” she said.
Of course, even better than recognizing a heart attack early on is focusing on preventing one. “Know your numbers,” Bennett advised. That means knowing your blood pressure as well as your cholesterol levels. Focus, too, she said, on a healthful diet and a healthful weight. Aim for a body mass index (BMI, a ratio of weight to height) below 25: that’s equal to less than 150 pounds for a person 5-feet, 5-inches tall, and less than 175 pounds for a person 5-feet, 10-inches tall.
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