If you or someone near you may be having a heart attack, call 911 immediately. Do not drive yourself to the hospital and do not wait to see if symptoms pass.
A heart attack occurs when blood flow to part of the heart is blocked for long enough that heart muscle tissue is damaged or begins to die. The medical term for this is myocardial infarction. Manhattan Cardiology provides follow-up cardiac care, risk assessment, and prevention-focused monitoring for patients across Manhattan, both after a heart attack and for those working to lower their future risk.
This page is intended to help you recognize the warning signs of a heart attack and understand what ongoing cardiac care involves. It is not a substitute for emergency medical care.
Who This Is For
- Anyone experiencing chest pain, pressure, or tightness right now, who should call 911 before reading further
- Patients who have survived a heart attack and need ongoing cardiac monitoring
- Adults with risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, or a family history of heart disease
- People who smoke or have a sedentary lifestyle and want to understand their cardiovascular risk
- Anyone recovering from a recent heart attack who needs a cardiologist for follow-up care
Warning Signs of a Heart Attack
For most people, the first warning sign is a squeezing or pressure sensation in the chest. This can spread to the arms, torso, neck, or jaw. Other common warning signs include:
- Chest pain or discomfort that feels like pressure, squeezing, or fullness
- Shortness of breath
- Cold sweat
- Nausea or indigestion
- Lightheadedness or dizziness
- Unusual fatigue or weakness
- A sense that something is seriously wrong
Symptoms vary from person to person and can be mild or severe. Women, older adults, and people with diabetes are more likely to have subtler or less typical symptoms, such as unexplained fatigue, back or jaw discomfort, or nausea without obvious chest pain. The more of these symptoms you notice together, the more urgent the situation.
If you notice these signs in yourself or someone else, call 911 right away. The average person waits about three hours before seeking help for heart attack symptoms, and that delay costs lives. The sooner emergency care begins, the better the chance of limiting damage to the heart.
What Causes a Heart Attack
A heart attack most often happens when plaque, a substance made up of cholesterol and other cellular material, builds up inside the walls of the coronary arteries. If that plaque ruptures, it can trigger a blood clot that blocks most or all of the blood flow to part of the heart muscle. This is the most common cause of heart attack. Less commonly, a heart attack can result from a spasm in an artery supplying the heart.
Heart attacks are typically the result of years or decades of cumulative damage from lifestyle factors, genetics, or other health conditions, such as unmanaged diabetes or long-term tobacco use.
Risk Factors for Heart Attack
- Smoking
- Increasing age
- Family history of heart disease
- Uncontrolled diabetes
- Uncontrolled high blood pressure
- Uncontrolled cholesterol or lipid levels
- Sedentary lifestyle and physical inactivity
- Obesity
Many of these risk factors can be managed with the right combination of lifestyle changes, monitoring, and, when appropriate, medication. That is where ongoing cardiology care makes the most difference.
How a Heart Attack Is Diagnosed
In an emergency setting, a heart attack is typically diagnosed based on your symptoms, a review of your medical history, and diagnostic testing. A 12-lead electrocardiogram (EKG) measures the heart’s electrical activity and can show characteristic changes associated with a heart attack. Blood tests can detect specific markers that indicate heart muscle damage. A cardiac angiogram may also be used to visually confirm arterial blockage using imaging technology.
After the emergency has passed, your cardiologist will use this same diagnostic information, along with any follow-up testing, to guide your ongoing treatment and monitoring plan.
Treatment for a Heart Attack
Treatment for an active heart attack takes place in a hospital setting. When you arrive with heart attack symptoms, the care team will perform an EKG and blood tests to confirm the diagnosis. Depending on the findings, you may need a procedure called cardiac catheterization, which can involve opening a blocked artery with angioplasty, placing a stent, or, in some cases, bypass surgery.
After the acute event, your care team will continue to monitor your vital signs and watch for complications during recovery, including ventricular fibrillation, pericarditis, and heart failure. This monitoring helps confirm that your heart is recovering as expected and reduces the risk of a second heart attack.
Ongoing monitoring after a heart attack generally continues well past hospital discharge. Your cardiologist will track your blood pressure, heart rhythm, cholesterol, and blood sugar over time, since keeping these factors controlled is part of reducing the risk of a future cardiac event.
Preventing a Heart Attack
Managing modifiable risk factors can help lower your risk of a heart attack. This generally includes:
- Controlling cholesterol through diet, exercise, and medication when appropriate
- Maintaining a healthy weight
- Not smoking, or working with your care team on a plan to quit
- Managing diabetes closely
- Staying physically active within the limits your cardiologist recommends
- Following up regularly on blood pressure and cholesterol screening
Risks and Safety Notes
- A heart attack is a medical emergency. Any suspected heart attack requires an immediate call to 911, not a scheduled appointment.
- Left untreated, a heart attack can be fatal. The most common non-fatal complication is chronic heart failure or a permanently weakened heart muscle.
- After a heart attack, complications such as congestive heart failure can develop, in which the heart’s pumping ability is weakened.
- If you have already been treated for a heart attack and notice new chest pain, worsening shortness of breath, or other concerning symptoms, contact your care team promptly, and call 911 if the symptoms match the warning signs above.
- Following your prescribed medication plan and attending follow-up appointments are both important parts of reducing your risk of a second heart attack.
Key Takeaways
- A heart attack happens when blood flow to part of the heart is blocked long enough to damage heart tissue.
- Warning signs include chest pressure, shortness of breath, cold sweat, nausea, and lightheadedness, though symptoms vary and can be subtler in women and older adults.
- If you suspect a heart attack, call 911 immediately. Faster treatment generally means less heart damage.
- Major risk factors include smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity, and inactivity, many of which can be managed with ongoing care.
- Treatment for an active heart attack happens in a hospital and may include catheterization, angioplasty, stenting, or bypass surgery.
- After a heart attack, ongoing cardiology follow-up helps monitor recovery and reduce the risk of a future event.
Call 911 immediately. Do not drive yourself to the hospital, and do not wait to see if the symptoms go away. The sooner emergency treatment begins, the better the chance of limiting damage to your heart.
The most common early sign is pressure, squeezing, or tightness in the chest, which can spread to the arms, neck, or jaw. Other signs include shortness of breath, cold sweat, nausea, and lightheadedness. Symptoms can be less obvious in women, older adults, and people with diabetes.
Yes. Not everyone experiences the classic sign of sudden, intense chest pain. Some people, particularly women, are more likely to notice shortness of breath, jaw or back pain, nausea, or lightheadedness without significant chest pressure.
Most heart attacks happen when plaque inside a coronary artery ruptures, triggering a blood clot that blocks blood flow to part of the heart muscle. Less commonly, a spasm in an artery supplying the heart can cause a heart attack.
Treatment happens in a hospital and depends on the severity and location of the blockage. Options include cardiac catheterization, angioplasty, stent placement, and, in some cases, bypass surgery. Your care team will monitor you closely throughout treatment and recovery.
Recovery varies by patient and depends on how much heart damage occurred. Ongoing monitoring of your blood pressure, heart rhythm, cholesterol, and blood sugar is a standard part of recovery, along with cardiac rehabilitation in many cases. Ask your cardiologist what recovery is likely to look like for your specific situation.
While there is no guaranteed way to prevent a heart attack, managing risk factors such as cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar, weight, and smoking can help lower your risk. Regular follow-up with a cardiologist is part of staying on top of these factors over time.
Immediately. Even a short delay matters. On average, people wait about three hours before seeking help for heart attack symptoms, and that delay is associated with worse outcomes. Call 911 as soon as you notice warning signs.
A heart attack occurs when a blocked artery stops blood flow to part of the heart. Cardiac arrest is a different problem involving the heart's electrical system, which causes the heart to stop beating altogether. A heart attack can sometimes trigger cardiac arrest, but the two are not the same condition.
Yes, in most cases. Ongoing cardiology follow-up helps track your recovery, monitor for complications, and manage the risk factors that contributed to the heart attack in the first place, with the goal of reducing your risk of a future cardiac event.
