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Sometimes certain diseases are easy to diagnose. But other times, the symptoms are so confused that things get missed, and this is a serious health risk.

Some health risks are obvious. If you smoke, if you’re overweight, or if you eat badly, then you know you’re increasing your health risk. And the same goes for certain diseases as well. Most people can recognize the classic chest pain that comes with a heart attack. But not everyone’s the same and not every disease is the same. Symptoms that aren’t obvious or are easily confused for other diseases can mess up your diagnosis. And this is an obvious and very real health risk, particularly when it comes to having a silent heart attack.

 

The Basics on Heart Attacks

Your heart requires a constant flow of blood to stay healthy. When this blood flow is interrupted, for whatever reason, it causes a heart attack. Without blood flow, the muscle of your heart is deprived of oxygen. And when it doesn’t get enough oxygen, the tissue dies. Most people are very aware of the danger of heart attacks and of its symptoms. These include:

• Pain in the chest, particularly on the left side.
• Feelings of pressure, fullness or squeezing in the chest.
• Shortness of breath.
• Sweating.
• Nausea.
• Anxiety.
• Pain in the arms, shoulders, neck, back or jaw.
• Stomach pain.

These symptoms are easy to identify. But they aren’t the whole story. Almost one half of heart attacks don’t display these symptoms, and yet the result is still the same. These experiences are often called silent heart attacks. They can create symptoms that are seemingly unrelated to the heart. They may even occur without causing any symptoms at all. And yet a silent heart attack can do just as much damage as one that causes chest pain and discomfort. You could lose a lot of your heart tissue during a silent heart attack, without even knowing it. And this could have long-term and very serious implications for your health. This health risk could even cost you your life.

 

The Danger of a Silent Heart Attack

Silent heart attacks aren’t rare. In fact, some researchers claim that up to 45 percent of heart attacks fall under this description. A silent heart attack triples your chances of dying from heart disease in the future. It also increases your chances of dying by all causes by 34 percent. And it often results in misdiagnoses, or no diagnosis, which means that it prevents you from getting treatment.

Heart attacks are one of the most common causes of early death in the world. And yet diagnosing them isn’t always easy. Even an ECG doesn’t always help with diagnosing a heart attack unless it’s happening at the time of the exam. This applies to STEMI heart attacks, which involve 100 percent blockage of an artery to the heart, and non-STEMI heart attacks, which are caused by partial blockages. Further testing is often needed to diagnose a heart attack.

But getting further tests often depends on your doctor. And they will make the judgement call based on their analysis of your subjective experience. So, if you have a heart attack but doesn’t experience the typical symptoms, you’re at high risk of misdiagnosis. Or even worse, your doctor may assume that the experience was something unimportant and send you home. This means you won’t get the treatment you need. And you won’t know enough to start making needed changes to avoid another attack.

Another issue with having a silent heart attack is that you may not recognize the need to see your doctor. Without symptoms that you recognize as connected to a heart attack, you could just dismiss the experience. And this is perhaps the biggest danger of this health risk.

 

The Takeaway

It’s important that you take steps to improve your heart health throughout your life. Protective measures like regular exercise, a healthy diet, and a healthy lifestyle will help with that. But this protection obviously isn’t 100 percent effective. If you want to lower your risk further, you need to take ongoing measures. And here’s how to do it:

1. Evaluate your health risk based on known risk factors like obesity, diet, family history, personal history, and lifestyle.
2. Make changes that eliminate or reduce the risk factors you have control over.
3. Monitor your blood pressure, glucose levels and other measurements relevant to heart health.
4. You can also monitor your heart health more directly by buying a wearable ECG machine.
5. Take note of any changes or strange symptoms, even if they don’t seem related to your heart.
6. Write everything down and take your records with you when you visit your doctor.

Despite their name, a silent heart attack doesn’t come out of nowhere. By tracking your symptoms and condition through time, you will see signs of problems early. Don’t try to ignore or explain away your symptoms either. And don’t let anyone else dismiss them. You know your body best. And this knowledge is your greatest weapon in the fight against a silent heart attack.

If you’re concerned about a health risk, try using HomeLab to keep track of your condition and any preventative measures you take. And if you see signs of a significant problem, you should check with your doctor as soon as possible.

 

Tags: health risk, heart attack, silent heart attack