What is a silent heart attack? These common symptoms should not be ignored

Silent heart attacks are nothing like what we see in films with actors clutching their chest in agony. It is a covert killer where people do not even realize they are suffering from a cardiac arrest.

In fact, silent heart attacks account for nearly 45% of all events. They are seen to strike men more than women.

Medically known as a silent myocardial infarction (SMI), a silent heart is a major event that feels like a minor and temporary issue that would go away with time. However, people mistake heart attacks for less severe problems in nearly half of all instances, leading to deaths that could have been avoided by timely intervention.

Why symptoms are less severe?

Instead of the severe symptoms like extreme pain and pressure in the chest area, pain in the arm, neck or jaw, dizziness, sweating etc, the symptoms of a silent heart attack are mild. Silent heart attack symptoms can also feel brief and insignificant, which makes people confuse them with regular discomfort or a less serious ailment. Unfortunately, many end up ignoring such emergency situations to their own peril.

These silent symptoms are not only less dramatic but can also be soft enough for one to ignore the pain and discomfort.

In silent heart attacks, help is often late to come by. The heart suffers an elongated period where the blood flow is cut off, which can lead to substantial damage. Here is how you can try to recognize a silent heart attack and seek help before it too late.

Symptoms of a silent heart attack

1. Feeling of fullness, discomfort, pressure or pain in the chest

Most heart attacks will come with only a mild amount of paid in the central part of the chest. There might also be a feeling of pressure. It may feel like something is squeezing your chest. Such symptoms may be slow to arise and intermittent. It might feel like a heartburn.

2. Feeling of discomfort in certain body parts

The symptoms of a heart attack may arise in some other parts of your body too, instead or apart from the chest region. Some people can feel discomfort in their arms, back, neck, jaw or stomach. Symptoms can vary from one person to another and are thus difficult to gauge. Back pain has been described by some people as how one would feel with a rope tied around the body.

3. Breathing difficulties and feeling dizzy

Another symptom is feeling exhausted from a simple activity, as if you’ve run many kilometres. This can happen because of the heart being unable to pump oxygenated blood into the body. With or without chest discomfort, shortness of breath is a common symptom of silent heart attacks. Similarly, feeling dizzy or like you will faint could be another common symptom.

You may also feel dizzy or lightheaded — and it’s possible you could faint. Though this can happen to both men and women, it’s more common for women to experience shortness of breath.

4. Simple activities feeling difficult

Watch out for difficulty or unusual exhaustion while doing simple activities like making your bed, walking your pet etc. These may be subtle signs you’re having a silent heart attack.

5. Nausea and cold sweats

Some people can also suffer symptoms like nausea and cold sweats while sleeping which causes them to wake up. These are similar to the symptoms of a flu infection, which might cause people to ignore these warning signs. If you feel it could be something more than a flu, seek emergency help at the earliest.

While you should always be on the look out for these symptoms, the best remedy is prevention. Get your heart health screened on a regular basis for high blood pressure or alarming cholesterol levels.