Heart Specialist Doctor in Hyderabad Explains Silent Heart Attack and the Risks?
Heart Specialist Doctor in Hyderabad – Dr. Sarat Chandra is one of the leading heart specialist doctors and the best cardiologist in Hyderabad
What if you experience a heart attack and don’t have chest pain at all or are the symptoms including chest pain is less dramatic. Everyone recognizes a heart attack with a sudden, severe, squeezing chest pain, but in absence of chest pain, recognizing a heart attack becomes confusing – which means, you don’t even know that it is a heart attack – such a heart attack can become life-threatening.
Silent Heart Attack Signs are Different
A Silent heart attack is one that comes on or strikes without any warning signs or symptoms. Usually, those who experience a silent heart attack may not have chest pain, shortness of breath, pain in the arms, heavy squeezing chest pain. You may be surprised to know that people experiencing a heart attack feel as if an elephant is sitting on their chest. But with a silent heart attack – the scenario is different.
Some people after having experienced a silent heart attack recollect that they had mistaken their heart attack for heartburn, indigestion, muscle pain, nausea, or a bad case of flu. They may have less serious flu-like symptoms such as sneezing, cough, and weakness.
Let us have a look at the factors that can put you at increased risk of a heart attack:
- Family history of heart attack
- Sedentary lifestyle
- Unhealthy food habits
- Excessive intake of fats and sugars
- Diabetes
- Obesity or excess body weight
- High blood pressure
- High cholesterol levels
- Age
- Smoking or chewing tobacco
- Women with PCOS are at increased risk
Dr. Rajeshwari Reddy – a renowned gynecologist in Hyderabad says that though there are many reasons for the increasing number of heart attacks in women, PCOS is the most prominent one.
Women with PCOS are twice more likely to get a heart attack and stroke than women who don’t have this condition.
PCOS and Heart Attack Risk
In women who have PCOS, insulin levels are high. In such cases, there is also a risk of elevated LDL cholesterol levels, higher triglycerides levels, and low levels of HDL cholesterol. High cholesterol levels increase the risk of atherosclerosis, high blood pressure and eventually increase the risk of heart attack and stroke. The typical signs and symptoms associated with a heart attack in women are different than men – therefore women are more prone to suffer from silent heart attacks than men. Obesity, insulin resistance, sedentary lifestyle, abnormal hormonal levels, and sleep apnea associated with PCOS are linked to elevated blood pressure. Which is again a risk factor for silent heart attacks in women.
A silent heart attack can strike suddenly and put you at increased risk of having another heart attack. The second heart attack could prove fatal and also increase the risk of complications. To know whether you may have a potential risk of having a silent heart attack, it is better to consult a heart specialist doctor in Hyderabad. The doctor evaluates if you have the risk factors – which could increase the risk of a silent heart attack.
How to know whether one is at risk of a silent heart attack?
A heart attack can actually happen without a person knowing it. You can minimize the risk of a silent heart attack by making changes to your lifestyle as there are no tests to determine your potential risk of having a silent heart attack. Heart disease screening tests help in evaluating your risk of heart disease. If you have high-risk factors of heart disease – such as high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol, then you must consult your heart specialist doctor and get evaluated. Your doctor will treat you and help reduce the risk of a silent heart attack. Based on your symptoms, personal history, and family history, a cardiologist in Hyderabad may also recommend ECG and Echocardiogram tests.
Bottom Line
Whether it is an obvious heart attack or silent heart attack both are dangerous, but the risk of complication and death increases with a silent heart attack. The reason, an individual who has had a silent heart attack didn’t know that he or she had a heart attack. Owing to this reason, the blood flow to the heart does not get restored early on, and therefore, the affected person could unknowingly be at a greater risk of potential damages and complications. Even if you experience certain vague and unclear signs and symptoms – such as heartburn, abdominal pain, weakness, fatigue, and flu-like symptoms, then it is better to get evaluated by the Cardiologist in Hyderabad.
