Three often missed symptoms which appear up to a month before devastating heart attack

Three symptoms of a heart attack can appear a month before it actually happens, giving a key chance to take action to stop the potentially devastating problem from happening. Medical News Today reported that in women especially there were three red flags people need to watch out for.

Medical News said: “New symptoms, such as chest pain, can indicate a heart attack and require urgent treatment. However, people sometimes experience other symptoms that might indicate an increased risk for a heart attack. Having a healthcare professional check these symptoms may help diagnose and prevent heart disease sooner.”

An older 2003 survey of 515 women who survived a heart attack found that they most commonly experienced the following symptoms a month before their cardiac event:

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• abnormal levels of fatigue — 70.7% of women in the study reported this

• disrupted sleep — 47.8%

• shortness of breath — 42.1%

Medical News Today said: “Chest pain, discomfort in the arms, back, and neck, and breathlessness are common symptoms of heart attacks. However, heart attacks can also cause unusual levels of fatigue, sleep problems, and shortness of breath up to a month before in women.

“Treatment and recovery are possible, but only for those who recognize and act on these warning signs by immediately calling 911. It is best to try and prevent heart attacks by eating a heart-healthy diet, maintaining a healthy weight, exercising regularly, and avoiding smoking.”

A 2017 study published in The Lancet Public Health suggested people were seeing symptoms leading up to having a heart attack, but in most cases didn’t take action in time. In this study, the researchers examined records of all 446,744 NHS hospital stays in England between 2006 and 2010 that recorded heart attacks, as well as the hospitalisation history of all 135,950 heart attack deaths.

The records included whether or not patients who died of a heart attack had been admitted to hospital in the past four weeks and if so, whether signs of heart attack were recorded as the main cause of admission (primary diagnosis), additional to the main reason (secondary diagnosis), or not recorded at all.

Of the 135,950 patients who died from heart attack, around half died without a hospital admission in the prior four weeks, and around half died within four weeks of having been in hospital. 21,677 (16 per cent, or one in six) of the patients who died from heart attack had been hospitalised during the four weeks prior, but heart attack symptoms were not mentioned on their hospital records.

The authors said there are certain symptoms, such as fainting, shortness of breath and chest pain, that were apparent up to a month before death in some of these patients, but doctors may not have been alert to the possibility that these signalled an upcoming fatal heart attack, possibly because there was no obvious damage to the heart at the time.

Prevention

• Addressing the heart attack risk factors is the most effective way to prevent a heart attack:

• Stopping smoking is an important step in reducing heart attack risk.

• Reducing blood pressure by limiting salt intake, exercising regularly, and taking blood pressure medications, as advised.

• Keeping blood cholesterol in check by reducing cholesterol, saturated fat, and trans fat intake, moving regularly, and taking cholesterol-lowering medication prescriptions.

• Aiming for a healthy body mass index (BMI) to prevent obesity.

• Taking all possible measures to manage a diabetes diagnosis.

• Reducing alcohol intake, as it can affect blood pressure.

Lead author Doctor Perviz Asaria, from the School of Public Health at Imperial, said at the time: “Doctors are very good at treating heart attacks when they are the main cause of admission, but we don’t do very well treating secondary heart attacks or at picking up subtle signs which might point to a heart attack death in the near future.

“Unfortunately in the four weeks following a hospital stay, nearly as many heart attack deaths occur in people for whom heart attack is not recorded as a primary cause, as occur after an admission for heart attack.”

Co-author Professor Majid Ezzati, also from Imperial’s School of Public Health, said at the time: “We cannot yet say why these signs are being missed, which is why more detailed research must be conducted to make recommendations for change. This might include updated guidance for healthcare professionals, changes in clinical culture, or allowing doctors more time to examine patients and look at their previous records.”