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On hot days, we can feel worse. Dizziness, shortness of breath. It could be a simple fainting or something more dangerous – a heart attack. When should you start to worry and call an ambulance? How does a heart attack hurt and why shouldn’t it be taken lightly? Is a broken heart just a fiction and how does it feel? These questions were answered by dr hab. n. med. Piotr Dobrowolski.
- Symptoms of a heart attack can for a moment be mistaken for an ordinary fainting. Because it is dizziness, some weakness – explains the cardiologist
- Most often, a heart attack is accompanied by very severe chest pain, although there are also other non-specific symptoms that may lull our vigilance
- Patients compare such pain to tightening the chest in a vice, to the extent that they are unable to breathe – adds the expert
- In this case, let’s look for medical help, because a recent heart attack is a serious complication. Our heart can just burst
- More information can be found on the Onet homepage
How to distinguish a tomb from an ordinary fainting on a hot day?
Klaudia Torchała, Medonet: What signals coming straight from the heart are disturbing when, for example, on a hot day we suddenly feel bad. How to distinguish a heart attack from a harmless condition, when you simply feel dizzy from the heat, spots appear in front of your eyes?
Dr hab. n. med. Piotr Dobrowolski from the National Institute of Cardiology: Of course, the symptoms of a heart attack can be mistaken for an ordinary fainting. Because it is dizziness, of course, a certain weakness. However, with a heart attack, there is pain in the chest caused by the fact that we have less oxygen on such days and the arteries may narrow. Rather, it will be intense pain that is bothering you and will not go away. It can also be a feeling of a faster, irregular heartbeat. Nausea and vomiting may also appear.
The rest of the interview follows the video.
If we have such symptoms, should we see a doctor immediately?
It depends on the form of the patient. Because it can be, for example, a heat stroke in a young patient, it happens from overheating and if the symptoms are not severe, it is enough to get out of the sun, cool off, take a cool bath, but not a cold one. The water should be 3-4 degrees C. colder than our body. You should also drink a lot of water and watch yourself. Such a state in a healthy person should pass by itself. However, in the case of sick people, it is necessary to intervene faster. Absolutely not wait for an exacerbation of symptoms. In all cases, however, if you faint, you must immediately call the ambulance service or, after regaining consciousness, go to the emergency room.
When to call an ambulance immediately?
When are we absolutely supposed to call an ambulance? After a heart attack, every minute counts.
When the chest pain is very severe. It takes 10-15 minutes and does not pass. It’s such a stinging, crushing, stinging pain. Often it radiates to the left hand, to the lower jaw. This pain is compared to the tightening of the chest in a vice, so much so that they are unable to breathe. If, in addition, such people suffer from heart disease, then there is nothing to wait for in this case.
A heart attack affects young people more and more often, and the symptoms are the same or – on the contrary – they do not exist at all …
Of course, in healthy people, the symptoms are the same, although it is also worth knowing that, for example, a heart attack of the lower wall is often manifested not by chest pain, but by nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain.
Don’t fight the pain – having a heart attack has serious consequences
What about the so-called having a heart attack? What is it about?
The point is that the patient did not report to the doctor in a timely manner, it can be said at the right time when the coronary artery was closing. Because that’s what a heart attack is. The pain is gone, but the heart now has inferior oxygen supply.
In such a situation, many of us are proud that we managed to overcome the pain and grit our teeth, but in many cases this heroism ends tragically.
Having a heart attack has very serious consequences. If we intervene at the right moment, there are good chances of saving life and health. We have the opportunity to perform a coronography, hemodynamic examination in a timely manner, assess the patency of the arteries and, if necessary, implant stents, i.e. widen the arteries. Thanks to this, we have opened them and the disease is actually healed. And in a patient who has had a heart attack, when the artery closes, we cannot do it. As a result, heart failure may develop. Therefore, severe chest pains cannot be underestimated.
Broken Heart is a fiction?
Is it then that this heart can burst for us, to use the literary term?
Nowadays, it is a very rare complication of a recent heart attack or a very extensive heart attack. Currently, rapid medical intervention, appropriate tests and quick restoration of the arteries have reduced the incidence of such a complication. Of course, it was previously described in the medical literature and we have seen it in clinics.
Can you live with a broken heart or does it mean death?
This is a very serious complication and requires urgent cardiac surgery because the heart must be sutured. If the heart breaks, only a quick intervention and “patching” it gives a chance to survive. But I note that this is a rare complication these days, so it is especially important not to underestimate the strong ailments in the chest. Remember that an infarction is nothing more than the complete or partial occlusion of a coronary artery, which results in myocardial ischemia. After all, every tissue needs oxygen to live. This is what our heart is like. If we do not supply oxygen, it is cardiac necrosis. And unfortunately, after some time, it cannot be reversed.
Diagnostics in a heart attack
The patient is not always to blame. In my family I have an example from a dozen or so years ago, when a person with ailments typical of a heart attack, i.e. hand numbness, stabbing in the pits, palpitations, came to the family doctor, and he diagnosed colic and prescribed antispasmodics. And on the day of intensive care, the cardiologist with the EKG read nothing …
Of course, it is difficult for me to comment on this case. I haven’t seen the electrocardiogram. Certainly, the basic parameter in the diagnosis of myocardial infarction are symptoms, an appropriately collected history (subjective examination). The patient needs to be examined. We have an electrocardiogram, of course, but we also have a very good tool, which is the assessment of troponin levels. We have ultra-sensitive troponins, these are markers released by the hypoxic heart muscle. They will show us if the heart does not have enough blood or if there is a significant narrowing of the coronary artery. In a word, did you have a heart attack.
If I come to the ED with a suspicion of a heart attack, can I be sure that this test will be performed?
Of course. If the patient presents with chest pain or suspicion of a heart attack, it is performed, inter alia, ECG and troponin concentration assessment.
If you have a recurring sensation of flushing to your head, changes in heart rhythm, shortness of breath, there is swelling on your face or limbs, fainted or feel weak? Don’t wait to see a cardiologist. Make an appointment at Medonet Market as soon as possible.
What is the heart to touch?
You can always see for yourself what this muscle is. Buy a pig or beef heart. It will be very close to the human touch and appearance. It has the same number of chambers and atria as humans. It is a very hard muscle. Lined across. It hits 60, 70 or 80 times a minute. This is perhaps the most busy organ in the body.
We encourage you to listen to the latest episode of the RESET podcast. This time, Olga Komorowska, sound therapist, voice trainer and singer, will talk about what sound therapy is all about. What are the benefits of “faking”, what is vibrotherapy and how is sound wave transmitted? You will find out by listening to the latest episode of our podcast.