Don’t Skip A Beat: Prepare for Heart Attacks

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Healthy heart

Preparing for a potential heart attack now could save a life later.

A crisis often strikes without warning, whether it’s a tornado, an earthquake, or a heart attack. Although heart attacks can happen suddenly, you can take steps now to prepare in case one should ever happen to you or a loved one. February is American Heart Month, a perfect time to ask yourself, “Would I know what to do in the event of a heart attack?”Following a heart attack, approximately 1 in 4 women will die within the first year, compared to 1 in 5 men.

Approximately every 40 seconds, someone in the United States has a heart attack. A heart attack happens when a part of the heart doesn’t get enough blood, starving it of the oxygen it needs. This reduced or blocked blood flow is usually caused by the buildup of a waxy substance called plaque in the arteries—a process that can take years to develop.

No matter how healthy you and your loved ones may be, you can take steps to prepare for the possibility of a heart attack. Preparation could help save a life.

  1. Know the risks. Be educated about the risks you and your loved ones face. Certain behaviors and conditions can increase your risk for a heart attack, including smoking, having uncontrolled high blood pressure, being overweight, and eating an unhealthy diet. Talk to your health care professional about what you can do to lower or manage these risks.
  2. Have a heart-to-heart. Engage friends, family members, and loved ones in a conversation about heart attack risks, and discuss what you can do together to prevent a heart attack. You might learn that you can help someone live a healthier life by taking them grocery shopping, driving them to medical visits, or reminding them to take their medicines. This is also an excellent time to document your own family health history. Knowing your family’s health history can tell you a lot about your own risk for heart attack because heart attack risk can often be inherited.
  3. Recognize the signs. Heart attacks look and feel different in women than they do in men. Both men and women may feel chest pain when having a heart attack, but women are more likely to also experience shortness of breath, nausea or vomiting, and pain in the back, neck, or jaw. About 1 in 5 heart attacks are called “silent” heart attacks, which means you’re having a heart attack but don’t know it.Signs and symptoms of heart attack in men and women
  4. Be safe, not sorry. Many heart attacks start slowly with relatively mild pain. That keeps many people from calling 911 as soon as they should. Make an agreement with loved ones that you will call 911 as soon as anyone experiences any of the signs of a heart attack. Don’t hesitate: acting fast can save a life.
  5. Write down important information. Keep a record of what medicines your loved ones are taking, what medicines they’re allergic to, and who they would want to have contacted in case of an emergency. If your loved one is hospitalized for a heart attack, you’ll have important information at your fingertips.
  6. Focus on prevention. It pays to be prepared in case a heart attack happens, but the best case scenario is to never experience a heart attack at all. You can help prevent heart attack from happening by eating healthfully, getting enough physical activity, not smoking, staying at a healthy weight, and managing other health conditions like high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, and diabetes. Reach out to your loved ones and commit to making these healthy changes together.

Staying heart-healthy is a lifestyle. Support from friends and loved ones can help empower you to be your healthiest self. This American Heart Month, show your support and share tips about how you encourage your loved ones to be heart-healthy by using the hashtag #HeartToHeart on Twitter and Facebook. You can find other ways to participate in American Heart Month by visiting the Million Hearts website.

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6 comments on “Don’t Skip A Beat: Prepare for Heart Attacks”

Comments listed below are posted by individuals not associated with CDC, unless otherwise stated. These comments do not represent the official views of CDC, and CDC does not guarantee that any information posted by individuals on this site is correct, and disclaims any liability for any loss or damage resulting from reliance on any such information. Read more about our comment policy ».

    Prepare for heart attacks is great information! Putting a link at the end of this page would be practical as to the response to a heart attack would be helpful. The minutes before EMS can arrive or an ambulance can get there.
    Before the panic sets in for both patient and family members.

    The informations in this article is very usefull. It help me to know some extra symptoms such as: shortness of breath, nausea or vomiting, and pain in the back, neck, or jaw, especially in the women.
    I will advise my my parents and my relatives do something according to this article.

    It’s great that the authorities are understanding how dangerous the cardiovascular diseases are and they try to make others understand. I think that this info should be presented to kids because they eating habits can cause heart attacks later in life. Not many of us are aware that anyone could get a heart attack and that the aren’t symptoms that indicate a clear sign that a heart attack is on the way.

    What does NH mean in this sentence in “every 40 seconds” linked doc ucm_491265.pdf : “Nearly half of all NH black adults have some form of cardiovascular disease, 47.7 percent of females and 46.0 percent of males.”

    I plan to use the information in this email as a basis for a lunch and learn at my office. Ironically, I had a silent heart attack on Feb. 7th, had no symptoms. I’m reading this today while catching up on emails from the couple of days I was in the hospital.

    Thanks for all the information that you share with the public. It is vitally important.

    Great article! I think this is the best check list made to get aware of Heart attach. And also I’ve come to know different kind of symptoms to identify the problem priorly. To be honest, I’ve bookmarked this blog and sent to my older grandpa and grandma. And I’ve told them to go through the article and do so. Thanks to the CDC.gov site for providing such useful health information that helps each individual who are seeking info in the internet.

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Page last reviewed: February 6, 2017
Page last updated: February 6, 2017