World Heart Day Special: Do you suffering from Chest pain? Remember this!
Dear friends, we all have noticed a significant spike in the deaths of young people due to heart disease these days including celebrities. In fact, it won’t be an exaggeration to say that we are going through a pandemic of heart disease. In such a situation, any chest pain in a person of any age group especially between 25 to 40 years just cannot be neglected. On World Heart Day, let’s discuss what a person suffering from chest pain, and his relatives, or friends can do as an instant and alert action so that we can avoid emergencies and death.
When a person suffers from a heart attack, time becomes the most important factor. Timely and correct treatment can save a patient’s life.
Major symptoms of heart disease
There are different symptoms of Heart disease. Chest pain, though a common one, is not the only symptom of a heart attack. There is a common misconception that if a person has no chest pain means he is not suffering from a heart attack. Just because there is no chest pain, many youths neglect the heart disease symptoms considering them as acidity and other ailments. Take note of the following symptoms:
Shortness of breathJaw or throat tightening
Shortness of breath while walking
Pain in only left arm
Acidity-like feeling
Abdominal pain
Right-sided chest pain
Heartburn
Dizziness
Darkness before the eyes
Profuse sweating
Feeling anxious, scared
Urgent ECG is a must
In case you experience any of the above symptoms, it is always a better option to immediately visit the nearest doctor or hospital and get the ECG done. This is because if it comes out to be really a case of acidity, there is no harm in spending a negligible amount on an ECG. But, if you keep neglecting the heart ailment symptoms in the name of acidity and they get aggravated, the expenses could be many times more than this.
If there is a heart attack…!
If a heart attack is detected in the ECG, an initial dose of blood thinners such as ecosprin and clopidogrel should be taken as per the doctor’s advice. Further treatment should also be taken on the advice of the doctor.
ECG Normal, but symptoms persist
Sometimes, there is a tricky situation. The patient experiences the symptoms of a heart attack, but the ECG turns out to be very normal. In such a case, it is necessary to repeat the ECG. Your doctor can advise you to conduct a troponin blood test also. Because in some cases, symptoms may persist and still the ECG could come out normal.
CPR
A person may faint after complaining of sudden chest pain showing all symptoms of a heart attack. In such emergencies, we must know about cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), a technique that is used to restart the stopped heart. The CPR technique involves giving compressions to a stopped heart 100 times a minute. These physical attempts are made to restart the heartbeat by putting pressure on the heart and restarting the blood supply to the brain. After the revival of a patient, immediate medical assistance should be ensured. One should remember that CPR is a lifesaving technique that can resume the activities of a suddenly stopped heart. More and more people should learn this technique and become life saviors.
Passing remark…
As we want to decrease deaths due to heart attacks, it is important to recognize the symptoms and get an ECG as quickly as possible. Timely consultation with a doctor and taking blood thinners as per the doctor’s advice play an important role. Finally, training as many people as possible in CPR techniques could be life-saving for many. It goes without saying that our changed lifestyle is responsible for the increasing number of heart attacks. So adopt a healthy lifestyle and have a healthy heart.
Dr Rhishikesh Umalkar
DM cardiology (Gold Medalist)
Ganeshaa Heart Care Centre
Trinity Hospital, Nagpur.
M: 85112 72373
