Heart Attack Symptoms.

Heart attack symptoms are usually painful conditions that are the result from the sudden blockage of normal blood flow to a portion of a persons heart. When this blood flow stops or becomes blocked the heart does not receive enough oxygen and begins to function irregularly and eventually ceases to work.

People who suffer a heart attack will usually experience heart attack warning signs such as chest pains, unusual sweating, nausea, varying degrees of weakness, and lack of oxygen. Each year about one and a half million Americans have some degree of heart diseases, which by large remains the leading cause of death in the USA for both men and women. Heart attack is a common term for a heart syndrome condition known as myocardial infarction in which there is permanent damage done to the heart muscle, also known as myocardium, when it's blood flow access is blocked. Heart attacks mostly happens to individuals when a normal blood vessels that carry blood to and from the heart are suddenly blocked, normally by a blood clot.

Heart attacks affect people all of a sudden in a spurt of the moment thing, however it is really the result of a process of heart syndrome that takes years to develop. Over time an individual's blood vessels can become hardened and narrowed by all the buildup of residual cholesterol and other fatty substances. Here are a few pointers to help you prevent a heart attack:

* Follow a low fat diet that is rich in fruits and vegetables, paying careful attention to the types and amounts of fat in your daily diet. Mono unsaturated fats actually help lower the bad cholesterol levels in the human body.

* Lower your salt and / or sodium intake to the minimum possible. Sodium and salt make your body retain fluids, which in turn also make the heart work harder, and excess fluid can cause weight gain.

* Lose weight if you are, according to international standards which most doctors know, overweight or obese. The actual definition of obese is having a body mas index greater than 30

* Quitting smoking right now. Smoking is one of the leading causes of coronary problems and other nasty diseases like cancer and emphysema.

Research done by the National Institutes of Health has indicated that heart attack signs women are different than those typically associated with men, and it is known that fewer than thirty percent report having chest pains or discomfort at or near the heart. Mostly women show signs of heart conditions manifesting in unusual fatigue, sleep disturbance, shortness of breath, indigestion and / or anxiety. Women are less likely to shown the classic heart attack symptoms, but they too, just as men, have to watch themselves specially in years leading up to and after menopause because normal hormonal changes can open the door to some heart conditions.