Heart attacks are a very common issue but that should not detract from them being serious medical emergencies.
Heart attacks are more likely to affect men over the age of 45 and women over 55 as well as those with high blood pressure and those who are obese.
However, heart attacks can affect almost anyone with those who have a family history of heart attacks, particularly at risk.
If you suspect you or someone you know is having a heart attack, you should call 999 and ask for an ambulance.
What causes a heart attack?
Heart attacks are usually caused by coronary heart disease (CHD) with this being the leading cause of these attacks, according to the NHS.
This condition sees major blood vessels that supply the heart get clogged with deposits of cholesterol, known as plaque.
This causes a lack of blood going to the heart which can seriously damage the muscle and become life-threatening.
What are the symptoms of a heart attack?
Here are some of the most common symptoms associated with a heart attack:
- Chest pains - This can include feelings of pressure, heaviness, tightness and/or squeezing throughout your chest.
- Pain in other parts of the body including on your arms (usually left arm), jaw, neck, back and tummy.
- Feeling dizzy or lightheaded
- Sweating
- Shortness of breath
- Sickness or nausea
- Overwhelming anxiety (like a panic attack)
- Coughing and wheezing
What complications can be caused by a heart attack?
Heart attacks can cause serious and life-changing complications with these including:
- Arrhythmias - Heartbeats become abnormal with type 1 involving the heart beating faster and faster before its stops (cardiac arrest).
- Cardiogenic shock - The heart muscle becomes severely damaged and cannot contract property to supply blood.
- Heart rupture - The heart's muscles, walls and valves split apart.
How to prevent a heart attack
The NHS outlines five steps for reducing the risk that you will experience a heart attack. These include:
- Quit smoking
- Weight loss
- Regular exercise - adults should do 2 hours and 30 minutes of moderate exercise a week (unless advised otherwise).
- Eat a low-fat, high-fibre diet
- Moderate alcohol consumption
If you or someone you know is experiencing a heart attack, you should call 999 and ask for an ambulance as this is an emergency.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel