Physical symptoms will warn a person of a heart attack.
Is this true?
Lee began to feel breathless when he was walking his customary three-quarters of a mile to work. He thought it might be due to the onset of a minor respiratory complaint. Later, while climbing stairs to his apartment, he again lost his breath. He ignored that. Being winded on stairs is common once in a while.
Once inside, he began answering emails, but suddenly felt nauseous. That’s when pain gripped his chest.
Lee still didn’t get it. He’d passed a recent physical with flying colors, didn’t smoke or drink, and never touched drugs. Even so, he did casually google up the symptoms of a heart attack.
The research surprised him, and he set out for the hospital. Luckily, he made the trip. By the time he arrived he was breathless, pale, sweating and in severe chest pain. Examination revealed a heart attack. Lee was rushed to surgery and a stent placed to unclog the blockage.
If I get in shape, I won’t need to worry about a heart attack.
Is this true?
Paul did everything right. He changed his ways and body shape at the age of 40. He went vegetarian, gave up drinking and smoking, did yoga and lost 50 pounds with his new lifestyle. When he did that, his high cholesterol levels dropped to normal. That’s why, when he woke up on a Sunday with neck and triceps pain, he thought maybe he’d overdone it at the gym.
Later, he began to feel strange fatigue and a creeping dread. After all, he considered, he had some new stresses. He had a new baby, a new work project and a puppy. While walking the new puppy, Paul began to feel clammy and dizzy. Like Lee, he researched heart attack symptoms on his phone, for curiosity’s sake. He noted that chest pain is a common indication of a heart attack. Paul relaxed. He didn’t have pain.
Paul’s wife saw the situation differently, and insisted upon getting him to a hospital.
Paul was discovered to have a large part of his right coronary artery completely blocked. A tube was inserted through his groin and a stent placed. Paul made an uneventful recovery with only slight heart damage.
