We know it’s a terrifying thought: heart disease is the number one cause of death in the United States, and statistics state that cardiovascular disease claims one life every 36 seconds.
Add to the equation that some heart attack symptoms aren’t as obvious as others, and it’s understandable to feel overwhelmed.
But you don’t have to be.
Working hand-in-hand with our renowned cardiologists, we can help you detect any problems early, before they develop into heart disease. You may find that avoiding a heart attack is as simple as taking a few easy steps.
We’ll review those steps, explain what happens during a heart attack, and emphasize how we can help you.
How Does a Heart Attack Happen?
Whenever the blood flow to the heart is interrupted, the stage is set for a potential heart attack. The flow may be blocked due to buildups of fat or cholesterol. These form plaque in the arteries, which in turn restrict the flow of blood to the heart.
If this plaque ruptures, it can create a clot that completely blocks the flow of blood to the heart. The resulting heart attack can severely damage or even destroy heart muscle. The medical term for a heart attack is a myocardial infarction.
What Are the Signs of a Heart Attack?
Most people think of crushing chest pain as the main indicator of a heart attack. Although chest pain is generally a symptom, not all those experiencing a myocardial infarction will have it.
The “classic” signs of a heart attack include:
- Chest pain
- Tightness or squeezing sensation in chest
- Nausea
- Heartburn
- Possible abdominal pain
- Fatigue
- Breaking out in a cold sweat
- Shortness of breath
- Dizziness
- Lightheadedness
However, it’s important to know that women often exhibit different heart attack symptoms than men. For example, women are more likely to have jaw pain, vomiting or back pain.
Avoid a Heart Attack by Taking These Easy Steps
Avoiding heart disease is a matter of transforming your lifestyle and improving your everyday health. While that can sound overwhelming, it can actually be boiled down to a few simple steps.
Stop Smoking
If you don’t smoke, don’t start. If you do smoke, you are at much greater risk for heart disease. And don’t think that vaping or e-cigarettes are a “safer” alternative to tobacco products. According to the American College of Cardiography vaping still carries an incredibly high risk of coronary disease, heart attacks and even depression.
Aerobic exercise, such as brisk walking, cycling and running are excellent choices for strengthening your heart. You should ideally exercise about 150 minutes per week. However, you don’t have to prepare to run a marathon to get some of the benefit of exercise—even moderate activity can make a difference.
Not sure where to get started? Talk to one of our primary care physicians who will be glad to help you put a plan together.
Maintain a Healthy Weight
Having a regular exercise routine and enjoying a healthy diet will likely help you maintain a healthy weight. You can determine your ideal weight by discovering your body mass index through this useful calculator.
Enjoy a Heart-Healthy Diet
What Can I Drink/Eat to Prevent a Heart Attack?
There is no magic potion that you can take that will eliminate all of your heart attack risk. However, there are some important dietary changes that can go a long way toward reducing your risk.
We’ll examine a few of them to get you started on your way to a more heart-healthy diet.
Get Plenty of Omega-3 Fatty Acids
This is a type of “good fat” that is found in fish oil, and it can help protect you from a heart attack by:
- Lowering your blood pressure
- Reducing your triglycerides, which is the amount of fat found in your blood
- Helping stabilize the blood flow around you heart
- Preventing blood clots
- Reducing inflammation
Your best sources of these fatty acids are:
- Fatty fish, including tuna, herring, salmon and mackerel
- Walnuts, flaxseed
- Oils such as flaxseed, soybean and canola oil
Reduce Sodium and Use Flavorful Alternatives
Too much salt in your diet starts a chain reaction: it causes your body to retain water, then, as the fluid increases, it multiplies the pressure on your arteries. In turn, this places a strain on your kidneys and your blood vessels.
Reducing salt doesn’t mean sacrificing flavor. There are a lot of wonderful alternatives you can use such as:
- Garlic
- Lemon juice
- Black pepper
- Dill
- Vinegar
- Paprika
If you’re interested in developing a healthier lifestyle, you can work closely with our primary care physicians who will be happy to monitor your health to be sure you’re doing everything you can to lower your risk of a heart attack.
Eat More Vegetables
We know you’ve heard several times that vegetables are good for you, but do you know how they reduce your heart attack risk?
Foods like spinach and kale are rich in Vitamin K, which protects your arteries. Vitamin K is also important in promoting proper blood clotting. These foods also have higher levels of dietary nitrates, which can help reduce blood pressure and improve cell function in the blood vessels.
Conway Medical Center: The Area’s Premier Heart Care Near You
Our state-of-the-art heart center gives you access to an experienced team of cardiologists who are board-certified. We’ll help you manage both chronic conditions and provide expert care during an emergency.
Contact usfor an appointment today.
FAQs
Some heart attacks strike suddenly. But many people have warning signs and symptoms hours, days or weeks in advance. Chest pain or pressure (angina) that keeps happening and doesn't go away with rest may be an early warning sign.
What can you do to prevent a sudden heart attack? ›
Lifestyle Changes to Prevent a Heart Attack
- Stop smoking. If you smoke, quit. ...
- Choose good nutrition. A healthy diet is one of the best weapons you have to fight heart disease. ...
- High blood cholesterol. ...
- Lower high blood pressure. ...
- Be physically active. ...
- Aim for a healthy weight. ...
- Manage diabetes. ...
- Get enough sleep.
Aerobic Exercise
How much: Ideally, at least 30 minutes a day, at least five days a week. Examples: Brisk walking, running, swimming, cycling, playing tennis and jumping rope. Heart-pumping aerobic exercise is the kind that doctors have in mind when they recommend at least 150 minutes per week of moderate activity.
How to avoid a heart attack while sleeping? ›
Five Ways to Sleep Well and Protect Your Heart
- Look into symptoms of possible sleep problems. ...
- Have a consistent bedtime routine. ...
- Keep potential sleep-stealers out of the bedroom. ...
- Drink less, exercise more. ...
- Know that sleep and heart health work both ways.
With every step, walking offers benefits and is some of the best exercise for heart health. It can improve your cholesterol levels, blood pressure and energy levels, plus it can fight weight gain to improve heart health overall, explains the American Heart Association.
How can you prevent a heart attack in the moment? ›
There is nothing anyone can do to stop a heart attack when it is happening. However, there are things people can do to help avoid having a heart attack in the first place. These include eating healthy, being physically active, not smoking, and getting plenty of sleep.
What happens to your body 1 month before a heart attack? ›
Warning signs of a heart attack that can occur a month beforehand include chest discomfort, fatigue, and shortness of breath. A heart attack is a medical emergency in which the blood supply to the heart is suddenly blocked.
What is the number one symptom of a heart attack? ›
A heart attack usually causes chest pain for more than 15 minutes. The chest pain may be mild or severe. Some people don't have any chest pain or pressure.
What can I drink to prevent a heart attack? ›
Heart-healthy drinks (other than water)
- Sparkling water (try adding chopped fruit or herbs; for example, fresh mint).
- Unflavoured milk.
- Plant-based milks with added calcium, like soy, almond, oat, rice milk.
- Tea.
- Coffee.
- Small glass (125ml) of 100% fruit or vegetable juice.
Self-Check
- Chest pain, tightness, or pressure lasting for several minutes.
- Nausea, indigestion, heartburn, stomach pain, or vomiting.
- Breaking out in a cold sweat for no obvious reason.
- Sudden dizziness or lightheadedness.
- Pain that radiates down the left side of your body (generally starts from the chest and moves outward)
Similar to coughing repeatedly will not help during a heart attack, applying pressure on the chest area during a heart attack is unlikely to help too, unless the person's heart has stopped beating (also known as a cardiac arrest).
What foods prevent heart attacks? ›
Eat more vegetables and fruits
Vegetables and fruits, like other plants or plant-based foods, contain substances that may help prevent heart disease. Eating more fruits and vegetables also may help you eat less higher calorie food. Some examples of high-calorie foods are meat, cheese and snack foods.
What is the best exercise for the heart? ›
The American Heart Association and the American College of Sports Medicine both recommend combining aerobic exercise (jogging, swimming, biking) with resistance training (moderate weightlifting). Together, these two categories of exercise produce the greatest benefit for preventing and managing heart disease.
What is one way to prevent heart attacks in the field? ›
Once you get the ok from your provider, start an aerobic exercise program that keeps your heart rate between 65 and 85 percent of your calculated maximum heart rate. This can increase the capacity of the heart to pump the blood and oxygen needed for the increase stresses that can be experienced during hunting.
Does drinking water before bed prevent heart attacks? ›
You may have heard that drinking a glass of water before going to sleep could prevent heart attacks. While water is essential to maintaining a healthy lifestyle, drinking water right before bed will not help prevent a heart attack. Instead, it could disrupt your sleep at night if you get up to go to the bathroom.
What sleeping position is best for your heart? ›
People with heart failure might experience discomfort on their left side and prefer to sleep on their right side. Echocardiograms of people with heart failure show that left side sleeping impacts the way the heart functions, potentially causing discomfort.
At what age do most heart attacks occur? ›
In general, most heart attacks happen to people around age 65. The younger you are, the less likely you are to have a heart attack, but it is not impossible, especially if you have certain risk factors.
What clears heart blockage? ›
A procedure called angioplasty—sometimes referred to as percutaneous (meaning “through the skin”) coronary intervention, or PCI—opens clogged coronary arteries to restore blood flow to the heart.
How to make a weak heart stronger? ›
Seven Ways to Make Your Heart Stronger
- Eat a well-rounded, balanced diet. ...
- Don't sit for too long. ...
- Brush your teeth every day – and don't forget to floss. ...
- Quit smoking and avoid second-hand smoke. ...
- Snack smartly throughout the day. ...
- Get plenty of sleep. ...
- Recognize and reduce stress in your life.
Rapid Treatment Saves Lives
This may include giving you clot-busting medicines (thrombolytic medicines) that dissolve the clots that are blocking the coronary arteries. Another treatment is balloon angioplasty, in which a thin, flexible tube with a balloon at the end is threaded through your artery to the blockage.
You and your health care provider can discuss what aspirin dose is right for you. Low doses of aspirin — such as 75 to 100 milligrams (mg), but most commonly 81 mg — can be effective at preventing heart attack or stroke. Health care providers usually prescribe a daily dose between 75 mg and 325 mg.
How do I know if I'm on the verge of a heart attack? ›
chest pain – a feeling of pressure, heaviness, tightness or squeezing across your chest. pain in other parts of the body – it can feel as if the pain is spreading from your chest to your arms (usually the left arm, but it can affect both arms), jaw, neck, back and tummy. feeling lightheaded or dizzy. sweating.
What are red flags before a heart attack? ›
Common warning signs include chest pain, arm or shoulder pain, and shortness of breath. But some people feel sick, sweaty, dizzy, or have pain in their back, neck or jaw. These lesser-known symptoms are particularly common in women.
Do you feel bad days before a heart attack? ›
Many people develop symptoms days to months before experiencing a heart attack. Chest pain is one of the most common symptoms. Sleep problems, chest heaviness, and heart palpitations are also commonly reported.
How long before a heart attack can you feel it coming? ›
“People ignore symptoms, which are usually taking place for weeks or months before finally having a heart attack with complete blockage. At that point, the heart isn't getting blood and it can go into a life threatening rhythm, which presents as cardiac arrest.”
How far in advance can you predict a heart attack? ›
A simple blood test may be able to predict heart attack risk within 6 months. Scientists have been looking at using blood tests to predict the likelihood of a first heart attack. The authors of a new study identified about 90 molecules that may serve as biomarkers of a cardiac event.
