Heart Health
Do you know the signs of a silent heart attack?
As many as half of all heart attacks go unrecognized — and their long-term consequences can be serious.
Image: © hidesy/Getty Images
Most people don't realize that they could have a heart attack without even knowing it. Although these are commonly referred to as "silent" heart attacks, a more accurate term may be "unrecognized" heart attack, says cardiologist Dr. David Morrow, director of the cardiac intensive care unit at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital.
"Some people do have symptoms, so in that sense, their heart attack is not silent. They just don't recognize the sensations as coming from their heart," he explains. They may think it's just indigestion or muscle pain, when the real cause is actually reduced blood flow to the heart. People may also experience other atypical symptoms, such as nausea or excessive sweating during a heart attack (see "Heart attack symptoms").
People with diabetes are more likely to have minimal or atypical symptoms. That's especially worrisome because they already face a higher-than-average risk of heart attack in the first place.
Raising awareness of unrecognized heart attacks is important because over the long term these events are just as dangerous as recognizable heart attacks (see "Survival after an unrecognized heart attack").
During a heart attack, the duration and intensity of symptoms can vary quite a bit. In general, there must be 15 to 30 minutes of reduced blood flow to result in a detectable heart attack (that is, part of the heart muscle becomes damaged or dies). But sometimes symptoms come and go; these are known as stuttering symptoms. And the intensity doesn't correlate with the size of the heart attack. Some people have mild symptoms from a very large heart attack, while others have severe symptoms with a small heart attack, says Dr. Morrow.
|
Heart attack symptoms Although the most common sign of a heart attack in both men and women is the classic one — discomfort in the center of the chest that spreads through the upper body — this symptom doesn't always occur. Some people experience non-classic symptoms, and these might be slightly more frequent in women and in older people. |
|
|
Classic symptoms |
Non-classic symptoms |
|
|
How long, how strong?
Silent heart attacks are usually discovered on an electrocardiogram (ECG), which is a recording of the heart's electrical activity. Damage to the heart's muscle caused by a heart attack shows up as a distinct signature on an ECG.
ECGs are quick and inexpensive, but they can miss a prior unrecognized heart attack or produce false positives, meaning they find evidence of a heart attack when there actually wasn't one. As a result, ECGs are not recommended for routine screening for people with an average risk of a heart attack who don't have symptoms. However, an ECG and other testing is appropriate for people with symptoms that suggest a heart attack, even if the cause is unclear. "I'd much rather have people get evaluated and it turn out to be nothing serious than not be evaluated and weather a heart attack at home," says Dr. Morrow.
Survival after an unrecognized heart attackA 2019 study reported in JAMA Cardiology identified people who'd experienced heart attacks — some recognized, some not — as well as others who'd never had a heart attack, and followed them all for about 13 years. Here's a summary of the findings: Who: 935 adults in Iceland with an average age of 76. How: MRI of the heart (which can reveal damage caused by a heart attack) done at the start of the study showed that 17% of the participants had at some point had an unrecognized heart attack, while another 10% had a recognized heart attack. Why: To determine the short- and long-term prognosis after an unrecognized heart attack. Key findings: After three years, those who'd had unrecognized heart attacks were no more likely to have died than people with no history of heart attack. But after 10 years, about half of the people with unrecognized heart attacks had died — a rate that was nearly identical to those who'd had recognized heart attacks. |
Disclaimer:
As a service to our readers, Harvard Health Publishing provides access to our library of archived content. Please note the date of last review or update on all articles.
No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.
