Health Discovery: In the Dark on Heart Attack Warning Signs?

If you were having a heart attack, would you know it? In a recent study of people with histories of heart disease, nearly half could not identify the symptoms—even though their risk of having an attack or dying is five to seven times greater than that of the general population.

Failure to recognize the signs of cardiac trouble, such as nausea, brief loss of consciousness or pain in the jaw, chest or left arm, can put a person’s life at risk. Prompt treatment—ideally within an hour after symptoms begin—can improve the chances of survival by up to 50 percent. Damage to the heart muscle can occur—leading to long-lasting problems—if treatment is delayed.

In the United States, the median time from onset of heart attack symptoms to admission to a hospital has stalled over the last decade at two-and-a-half to three hours.

For the international study, Kathleen Dracup, dean of the School of Nursing at the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues recruited 3,522 patients from the United States, Australia and New Zealand, all of whom previously had heart attacks or surgery for blocked arteries. The scientists quizzed participants on their knowledge of symptoms and reported in the May 26 Archives of Internal Medicine that 46 percent tested poorly.

“Obviously, cardiac patients should know how to save their own lives by learning the symptoms and getting rapid treatment,” says Robert A. Phillips, M.D., cardiologist and director of the Heart and Vascular Center of Excellence at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. “They should also know that cardiac rehabilitation after an attack is as effective on reducing mortality as any surgery or medicine we can offer them. So my advice is, talk to your doctor and demand it.”

And if you suspect an attack, experts recommend that you don’t drive yourself to the hospital. Call emergency medical services instead so treatment can be started en route.