ORLANDO, Fla. – Heart attacks, strokes, and sudden cardiac arrest can impact anyone, and there are symptoms to pay attention to.
According to the American Heart Association, 162,890 deaths were due to strokes and 20,114 deaths were due to sudden cardiac arrest in the U.S. as of 2021.
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Heart attacks:
Heart attacks happen when the blood flowing to the heart is blocked, causing damage to the heart.
Symptoms:
- Chest discomfort: Almost all heart attacks include some amount of chest pain, which can be described as squeezing, uncomfortable pain, over the whole body.
- Shortness of breath: With or without discomfort
- Cold sweat
- Nausea
- Lightheadedness
Strokes: Use the F.A.S.T method
Strokes occur if blood flow to the brain is stopped. This will cause brain cells to die off.
Strokes can also happen is a blood vessel in the brain bursts.
Here’s how to determine whether you’re dealing with a stroke:
- F: Face drooping - one side of the face does not move
- A: Arm weakness - is one arm numb, does the arm swing downward?
- S: Speech difficulty - is the speech slurred or is it hard to understand what the person is saying?
- T: Time to call 911 - if any symptoms are showing immediately, call 911 and get them to a hospital
Cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest can happen when the heart suddenly stops beating, causing the blood to stop circulating.
Sudden cardiac arrest, which can lead to sudden cardiac death, is typically reserved for older adults ranging from 66 to 68 years old.
However, the risks are still prevalent for those who have a family history of heart disease, high blood pressure and little physical activity.
Heading to the cardiologist once a year is important to find out if there are preexisting conditions of a history of them.
