Important signs of impending heart attack that we often miss are abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting and back pain.
Of the patients who experienced symptoms, 20 percent reported miscellaneous maladies like abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, and back pain, 10 percent reported flu-like symptoms, and 5 percent said they fainted.
People who called 911 right after experiencing those initial symptoms were five times as likely to survive their subsequent cardiac arrest than those who ignored them, says study author Sumeet Chugh, M.D.
“Medical intervention at this early juncture—a time window that we didn’t realize existed—may be able to pre-empt the sudden cardiac arrest,” he says.
Still, only 19 percent of them called 911 to report symptoms before suffering cardiac arrest.
So when should you seek medical care for these symptoms? More research is needed for the general population before any specific recommendations can be made based on the study, says Dr. Chugh.
But if you have heart disease, any new or unexpected symptoms warrant medical attention, he adds.
As for young, healthy guys? The risk of sudden cardiac death rises sharply with age, and with risk factors like a family history or underlying conditions like diabetes or high blood pressure.
So if you’re feeling like you have the flu, chances are more likely it’s the bug rather than sudden cardiac arrest.
However, you should be on the lookout for symptoms that keep creeping back: In the study, of the patients who noticed warning signs, 93 percent of them experienced a recurrence within 24 hours of the event.
Oxygen pressure falls as we age
You may be oxygen deficient because there is not enough pressure to push the volume to a usable state. The transfer of oxygen from the blood to the cells is perhaps the most significant underlying factor to whether you live healthy life or not. Here is the multi-step therapy from Dr Robert Rowen:
- Breath high level of oxygen (10 liters per min) while you exercise (15 minutes, walking, weight lifting, moderate aerobic )
- Add these nutrients (oral): Vitamin B1, Magnesium
- Combine with ozone or photooxidation therapy