Time = Heart Muscle So Don’t Wait To Get Help
If you think you’re having a heart attack, Time is of the essence: The longer a coronary artery is 100 percent blocked, the more heart damage will occur.
“Never drive yourself or have someone drive you to the hospital,” says Schaer. “The emergency medical technicians who respond to the 911 call are best equipped to care for heart attack patients, monitor them for any abnormal heart rhythms that can develop and rapidly transport them to the nearest hospital capable of opening the artery with angioplasty.”
If you’re concerned about chest pain, or if persistent chest pain is interfering with your quality of life, talk to your doctor. He or she can run tests to pinpoint the source of your pain, help you get relief and potentially prevent more serious health problems down the road.
Heartburn Bloating And Belching
Bloating, belching and heartburn after eating can be caused by consuming particularly fatty or oily foods. When it comes to drinks, carbonated or alcoholic beverages can lead to excess gas and bloating. Equally, wearing tight or restrictive clothing around your waistline may exacerbate the problem further, so it may be a good idea to wear loose clothing while eating.5 You should not try to relieve gas by belching, as this can make heartburn worse as it causes more acid to rise in your throat.6 Find out more about the causes of heartburn so you can identify your personal triggers.
Look Beyond Chest Pain Symptoms
When you have a heart attack, its because one of the coronary arteries that provide blood to the heart is blocked. The blockage obstructs the flow of blood and oxygen to the heart.
When you think of a heart attack, you may picture a person clutching their chest and collapsing from sudden, severe pain. But the symptoms of a heart attack often are much more subtle. This is especially true for women, Dr. Abdallah says.
A study by researchers at the University of British Columbia showed women are slightly less likely than men to experience chest pain during a heart attack.
Instead, they often suffer from subtle symptoms such as:
- Pain in the arms, neck or jaw.
- Sweating or cold sweat.
- Feelings of fullness, indigestion or choking .
- Nausea or vomiting.
- Lightheadedness, dizziness, extreme weakness or anxiety.
People with diabetes who are having a heart attack often have atypical or minimal symptoms, Dr. Abdallah says. If you have diabetes, you should seek medical attention for even slight chest or stomach pain or discomfort.
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What Investigations May Be Advised
Your doctor will usually ask you some questions to try to determine the cause of your chest pain. He or she may also examine you. Based on what they find, he or she may advise you to have some investigations, depending on what cause for your chest pain they suspect. Investigations for chest pain can include:
What Exactly Is Heartburn Anyway
Heartburnor gastroesophageal reflux or acid refluxis a painful burning feeling in your chest or your throat, according to the US National Library of Medicine .
Basically, heartburn happens when your esophagus relaxes too much and stomach acid comes back up into your esophagus, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases . It can be managed by making changes to your diet, like cutting back on coffee and alcohol, or through medications.
Having heartburn every once in a while, like after a spicy meal or taking a nap too soon after eating, is normal but if it occurs more than twice a week for more than a few weeks, it’s time to see a doctorin that case, you could have gastroesophageal reflux disease , a chronic, sometimes damaging form of heartburn.
But GERD isn’t the only issue that is related to heartburn. Many other conditionssome even life-threateningcan mimic the feeling of heartburn. Here, nine other conditions that heartburn could be masquerading asand when to see your doctor about it.
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Home Remedies For Heartburn
Home remedies are many but remember 2 thumb rules: Eating less and avoiding high-fat foods & maintaining a healthy lifestyle filled with physical activity & devoid of smoking & drinking. Other home remedies include.
- Eating vegetables low in fat & high in fiber.
- Intake of ginger
- Having oatmeal for breakfast as it is complete and high in fiber
- Eating more of non-citrus fruits
- Seafood & lean meat
- Egg whites, lean meats, and healthy fats
Before you sum up there are 2 more things you should know as these 2 are most confused
- Heartburn vs. acid reflux
- Heartburn vs. nausea.
In the first case, heartburn is a symptom of acid reflux and both are not the same while in the later both are the symptoms of indigestion, and nausea can be the result of heartburn.
Well, this is what heartburn is and a detailed answer to can heartburn last for days?
Sudheendra is a passionate blogger for 8 years and holds a Degree in Journalism & Mass Communications. His writings particularly focus on health, medicine, diet & lifestyle. For him, everything that interlinks and relates to health & medical world entices him. His write-ups aim at educating people not by just giving facts but by infusing human touch.
Common Symptoms Of Heartburn
If you’ve got a burning feeling in your chest just behind your breastbone that starts after you eat, it might be heartburn. The symptoms could last from a few minutes to several hours.
Heartburn begins when stomach acid splashes up into your esophagus, a tube that connects the back of your throat and stomach. Besides the burning feeling in your chest, you may also get:
- Chest pain, especially after you bend over, lie down, or eat
- Burning at the back of your throat
- Fluid at the back of your throat that tastes hot, sour, acidic, or salty
- Long-term cough, sore throat, or hoarseness
Telling your doctor about these symptoms is usually all they need to make a diagnosis of heartburn. But they may ask you to take special tests to find out how severe the problem is or to keep an eye on your treatment.
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Cardiac Pain That Isnt A Heart Attack
Cardiac pain, or angina, refers to discomfort in the chest because of something going on with the heart. The first thing a cardiologist will try to determine in a patient with cardiac pain is whether the pain is caused by clogged arteries.
Several conditions of the heart can cause cardiac pain but arent related to clogged arteries, including:
- Pericarditis: inflammation of the two thin layers of tissue that surround the heart
- Dissection: when the aorta splits and causes severe chest and back pain
- Myocarditis: inflammation of the heart muscle
- Cardiomyopathy: diseases of the heart muscle
What Causes Chest Pain
It is always a good idea to visit a doctor at least once to rule out any potential heart health issues. Anxiety can cause chest pain, but an important factor in reducing the stress of that chest pain is by making sure you are confident that your heart is in good health. Visiting a doctor is never a bad thing!
Often those living with anxiety and panic attacks will experience chest pain caused by any number of different factors. Some of these include:
- Hyperventilation – Those with panic attacks and anxiety are prone to hyperventilation, or breathing in too much oxygen. It is often due to rapid muscle contractions and excess air in the lungs. Hyperventilation contracts blood vessels and causes considerable chest pain.
- Bloating – anxiety can be connected to excess gas or bloating. Hyperventilation disorder can contribute to this as well. Bloating can cause an increased amount of pressure on the lungs, which in turn leads to chest pain.
- Psychosomatic – most people don’t like to believe the idea that the problem is in their head, but those with extreme anxiety and panic attacks, that are worried about their health, may feel genuine pain even though no cause of pain is present. Psychosomatic means that a physical ailment is aggravated or caused by their thoughts. The anxious mind actually convinces the body that there is a symptom, in this case chest pain.
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Location Of The Chest Pain
Both heartburn and heart pain are a pain located in the chest but there may be some subtle variation in the location. Typically heart pain is felt towards the center of the chest and fans outwards. Heartburn is also somewhat centrally located but slightly to the left side. It can extend as high up as the neck. The pain of heartburn is more localized in that a person may be able to isolate the location of the pain to one spot. Nevertheless, it is difficult to differentiate between heartburn and heart pain solely on the location.
How Do I Stop The Pain In The Long Run
Pain in chest is a result of hyperacidity or bloating.
To stop the pain, permanently, you need to fix your hyperacidity or bloating.
Here are two practical, actionable guides which may help
You can take a look at these extensive guides to address your hyperacidity or bloating from within.
Bloating:
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Your Asthma Gets Triggeredoften
The coughing and wheezing from heartburn can get so bad they could become triggers for asthma.
It is not clear, however, if frequent heartburn actually causes people to develop asthma. Although many people who have heartburn also have asthma and vice versa, the reasons for this overlap aren’t clear.
Experts think stomach acid can trigger nerves in the chest to constrict your breathing tubes in order to keep acid from entering. Again, a simple pH test to look for acid in your esophagus may help you get to the bottom of the problem.
What Does Heartburn Feel Like A Basic Guide To Heartburn
Disclaimer: Results are not guaranteed*** and may vary from person to person***.
Heartburn is the worst. It can happen at the most inopportune times. You went out and had a great dinner , youre lying down in bed, and it just hits you. Burning in your chest and throat, making sleep and comfort impossible. But what does heartburn feel like exactly? Can heartburn really feel the same as a heart attack? Its important to know the difference between heartburn and other conditions. The following is a basic guide to heartburn so you can recognize it and distinguish heartburn from other issues of the stomach and chest. This will help you treat it correctly and get on with your day.
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Proton Pump Inhibitors Offer Effective Symptom Relief
Although everyone has experienced heartburn occasionally after eating a large meal or spicy foods, when stomach acid is refluxed into the esophagus over a long period of time, it is known as gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD. The condition can affect people of all ages and is often overlooked in infants and children as a cause of chronic cough, hoarseness, feeding problems, and asthma.
Cardiac Arrest Vs Heart Attack
Sometimes there is confusion between the terms “cardiac arrest” and “heart attack.” A heart attack, or myocardial infarction, is damage to the heart muscle that occurs due to reduced blood flow to the heart muscle, depriving the heart muscle of the oxygen it needs to function properly.
Cardiac arrest means that the heart stops beating and death is imminent. A heart attack, if severe, can lead to cardiac arrest, and this is what occurs when a heart attack is fatal. However, other conditions, such as serious arrhythmias or shock, can also cause cardiac arrest.
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What Are The Warning Signs Of A Heart Attack
There are several different warning signs of a heart attack, and they are not always sudden or severe. Whether or not your chest pain symptoms include mild to severe pain, they should be considered heart-related until proven otherwise.
People having a heart attack may have just one of these symptoms, or a combination of several. They can come on suddenly or develop over a few minutes and get progressively worse. Symptoms usually last for at least 10 minutes.
Warning signs could include:
- discomfort or pain in the centre of your chest a heaviness, tightness or pressure, like something heavy sitting on your chest, or a belt tightening around your chest, or a bad case of indigestion
- discomfort in your arms, shoulder, neck, jaw or back
- other problems such as:
- feeling dizzy or light-headed
Heart attacks are more common in older people than in younger people, but they can occur in people of any age.
The pain you have may not sound like that described above, but its still important to see a doctor. Remember, all chest pain should be checked out by a doctor as soon as possible.
Some Heart Attack Sufferers Don’t Experience Chest Pain At All
While chest pain is far and away the symptom most commonly associated with a heart attack, not everyone who has a heart attack feels that crushing chest pain. While some may double over due to a vice-like grip around their hearts, others may feel as though a bear is standing on their chest. Or, they may experience nothing at all.
- Women, for instance, tend to have different heart attack symptoms than men. “Often, women don’t have the classic symptoms, such as pressure-like chest pain,” says Schaer. “They more frequently experience dizziness, nausea or fatigue, and they may have chest pain that radiates to both arms instead of just the left arm, as is common in men.”
- Diabetics also may not experience crushing chest pain because they don’t have the same nerve responses as nondiabetics. When having a heart attack, a diabetic may instead feel weak or dizzy, be short of breath or just not feel well.
- Elderly patients, too, are likely to not experience chest pain.
- Individuals with a high pain tolerance, some researchers believe, may be less likely to recognize the signs of a heart attack.
“They may pass out, or feel weak or confused,” Schaer says. “If youre a diabetic or older adult or are a caregiver for a diabetic or older adult it’s important to know that these populations often experience out-of-the-ordinary heart attack symptoms so you don’t write them off.”
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Immediate Action Required: Call 999 If:
You have sudden chest pain that:
- spreads to your arms, back, neck or jaw
- makes your chest feel tight or heavy
- also started with shortness of breath, sweating and feeling or being sick
- lasts more than 15 minutes
You could be having a heart attack. Call 999 immediately as you need immediate treatment in hospital.
Heartburn Or Heart Attack: How To Tell The Difference
While heartburn can cause a number of health problems, the condition itself is not life threatening. Heart attacks, however, can definitely kill you if theyre severe enough and if you dont get help within an appropriate time frame. The problem is the symptoms of a heart attack can be eerily similar to those of severe heartburnso similar that sometimes even a doctor might have a hard time differentiating the two. Complicating matters is the fact that what may be triggering a heart attack can also trigger heartburn. Luckily, there are a few points to keep in mind that separate the two.
Both heart attacks and heartburn can come with sharp chest pain as well as squeezing pains in the chest. In the case of a heart attack, the chest pain is a warning sign. It starts off bad and will worsen as the heart attack occurs.
Heart attacks usually come with a few differences. Shortness of breath, dizziness, and cold sweats are all more associated with heart attacks than heartburn. Heart attacks will also respond to nitroglycerin pills, while nitroglycerin will not help heartburn at all.
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Other Scans And Imaging
- Myocardial perfusion scan – often done to confirm the diagnosis of heart chest pain .
- Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging – also to confirm heart chest pain, this is a type of magnetic resonance imaging scan.
- CT coronary angiogram – a quicker alternative to an MRI scan, in which a CT scan is used to to look in detail at your coronary arteries.
- Coronary angiography – this test uses specialist X-ray equipment and dye injected into the coronary arteries to show the location and severity of any narrowing of the arteries.
- Isotope scan and CTPA scan look at the circulation in the lung. CTPA stands for ‘computerised tomography pulmonary angiogram’. They can show quite accurately whether or not a PE is present.
- Endoscopy – which uses a thin, flexible telescope passed down your gullet to examine your stomach lining. This may be recommended if your team thinks your chest pain could be caused by gastro-oesophageal reflux disease or a peptic ulcer.
You Have Sharp Chest Pain
Clearly, chest pain is a telltale sign of heartburnbut it can also be a sign of a heart attack. In fact, many people mistake heartburn for a heart attack. While you definitely shouldn’t diagnose yourself, there are a few ways to tell if your chest pain is heart attack or heartburn related.
In heart-related chest pain, for example, the pain will feel more like a tightness or pressure in your chest, and may spread to the back, neck, jaw, or arms. It’s also often associated with sweating, dizziness, nausea, difficulty breathing, or an irregular pulse. Heartburn-related chest pain, on the other hand, is typically a sharper pain that may be precipitated by eating a fatty or spicy meal and is affected by change in position .
Still, if you’re having chest pain and your’e worried, check with your doctor just to rule out a heart attack, says Walter J. Coyle, MD, gastroenterologist with Scripps Clinic Torrey Pines in La Jolla, California.
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