Don’t Ignore Early Morning Chest Pain
Posted: Sunday, August 14, 2011
by Dr K K Aggarwal
Heart Care Foundation of India
“Don’t ignore early morning chest pain as most fatal heart attacks occur early in the morning,” said Padma Shri and Dr B C Roy National Awardee Dr K K Aggarwal, President Heart Care Foundation of India, & MTNL Perfect Health Mela.
Dr. Aggarwal said that most heart attack occur in the first three hours of getting up, more during full moon period and during winter.
A discomfort, which lasts less than 30 seconds and which can be pinpointed with a finger, can be ignored as a non-cardiac chest pain. A burning in the chest occurring at 2 O’clock in the night may be due to acidity but any acidity like burning occurring for the first time in life after the age of 40 years, should be considered cardiac in origin unless proved otherwise. Similarly, any breathlessness appearing for the first time in life after the age of 40 years is cardiac in origin unless proved otherwise.
Chewing a tablet of aspirin at the onset of cardiac chest pain can reduce chances of cardiac death by 22%.
All chest pain patients should be promptly taken to the nearest cardiac hospital as timely clot dissolving therapy or clot removing angioplasty can practically cure a patient. The life saving window is to reach hospital within three hours.
Certain basic investigations required for evaluation of a chest pain should be available in the set up of every doctor who are handling patients with chest pain and these include ECG machine for diagnosing acute heart attack and portable echocardiography machine for early detection of heart attack. Angiography is the gold-standard investigation if a patient with chest pain comes within three hours as it can help removing the clot by primary angioplasty.
It could be that a person experiencing heart attack can go with signs of heart attack for hours and days before the problem may become fatal. People usually picture the person with heart attack collapsing on the ground and gasping for air. They are somewhat wrong.
Sometimes early heart attack symptoms are difficult to distinguish from regular tiredness, and fatigue. It can be mistaken with digestive problems as well.One can have the following symptoms.
- Chest pain, that feels deeper, in the sternum and upper abdominal. This pain spreads in the left or both arms, neck, and even jaw.
- Pain has intense pressing, constricting, squeezing, and burning sensations. The heart attack pain is never a case as sharp, annoying that can increase with changing the body position. The pain usually last more than five minutes. You should recognise heart attack pain - it feels like something squeezes or tights your chest. Nitroglycerine doesn't help, and the pain can be very, very intense.
- Dizziness, shortness of breath, sudden sweating, and weakness accompany the heart attack pain.
Chest pain and feeling fatigued are the very early heart attack symptoms. Don't disregard them, as many men tend to do. They can go through the pain for few days, and you may have mild heart attack symptoms, that can go unnoticed, because symptoms of heart attack can come and go, be quite bearable, and feel in the uncommon for heart attack areas - back pain, between shoulders, arms.
The symptoms of heart attach are similar to angina symptoms with the difference that rest and nitroglycerine don't give a relief as it does for angina.
One should not hesitate to go see his physician. It is better to get heart attack ruled out.
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)Great article. I have Tachycardia and sometimes get chest pain, SOB and similar symptoms. Occassionally my heart will start racing and I will pass out. Have had a full work-up and my EKG is always slightly abnormal electrially, with inverted T-waves. . I cannot tolerate any medications. At my age of 40 nobody wants to do anything for it yet.. Guess I will have to just live with it for now..:(
excellent article ive been having early morning chest pains and that "pins and needles "feeling in arms and fingers for ages now and ignored it ,this mornings episode was particularly uncomfortable and lasted an hour..having the day off work today to visit the doctor something is clearly wrong as this article has demonstrated to me ,,many thanks
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