Could you have a heart attack and not know it?

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. One explanation for this phenomenon may be a higher-than-average tolerance for pain. Some people mistake their symptoms as indigestion or muscle pain, while others may feel pain, but in parts of their upper body other than the center of the chest, says Dr. Kenneth Rosenfield, who heads the vascular medicine and intervention section at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital. Different sensations? “Many people don’t realize that during a heart attack, the classic symptom of chest pain happens only about half of the time,” he says. People sometimes describe heart attack symptoms as chest discomfort or pressure, while others say they feel an intense, crushing sensation or a deep ache similar to a toothache. Certain people are less sensitive to pain than others, or they may deny their pain and “tough it out” because they don’t want to appear to be weak. Not everyone has a good sense of their own pain tolerance, however, and a host of other factors (such as your emotional state) can affect pain perception. Of note: people with diabetes may be less sensitive to pain because the disease can deaden nerves (a condition known as diabetic neuropathy),...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Health Heart Health Source Type: blogs