Can You Have Mild Heart Attack & Not Know It?

Many people experience heart attack symptoms that are so mild that they may not recognize the potentially fatal condition. These are known as "silent" heart attacks, and early detection is important in the treatment of these attacks.

Identification

• A silent heart attack is defined as the death of the heart muscle, due to the blockage of blood flow to the heart, that does not produce any symptoms. Damage to the nerves of the coronary arteries may prevent chest pain symptoms from occurring.

Causes

• One of the causes of silent heart attacks is uncontrolled diabetes. Women are more prone to suffer a silent heart attack than men, and the elderly are at risk as well.

Risk Factors

• Women are especially at risk for silent heart attacks. In fact, 43 percent of women who had a heart attack experienced no pain or symptoms. Some early warning signs of a heart attack in women are unusual fatigue, shortness of breath and a disturbance in sleep patterns.

Symptoms

• Silent attacks may present with no symptoms at all, or they may be very mild. Some of the mild symptoms may be pain in the upper part of the stomach (often misdiagnosed as gastritis), sweating or nausea.

Warning

• If you experience any of these mild symptoms, then you could be having a silent heart attack. It is important to seek medical treatment immediately in order to avoid further damage to the heart.