A heart attack is a terrifying medical condition that can often be life-threatening.
When a part of the heart can’t pump because it’s dying from lack of blood flow, it can disrupt the pumping sequence for the entire heart.
The result is major complications to the heart.
Often people associate early warning signs of a heart attack with someone clenching their chest before dropping to the floor, seen mostly in films.
However, there are a number of unusual early warning symptoms to be aware of.
Heart attack symptoms
Health experts warn that sweating more than usual, particularly if not exercising or because of the heat, could indicate early heart problems.
The link between sweat and potential heart attacks is due to the body needing to pump more blood through clogged arteries, which takes more effort from the heart.
The body then sweats more to try to keep the body temperature down during the extra exertion.
Night sweats
Night sweats are a common warning symptom for women regarding heart issues.
Experiencing night sweats is commonplace during menopause, which many women associate with sweating in bed.
However, waking up with your sheets soaked or being unable to sleep due to the sweating could also be a sign of a heart attack, especially in women, warn experts.
“Sweating may also be associated with atherosclerosis, which is a condition where the arteries are narrowed by the buildup of fatty deposits called plaques,” warns Drugs.com
The health site added: “Atherosclerosis can lead to a heart attack and heart failure.
“When excessive sweating is due to an underlying medical condition such as a heart attack, it is called secondary hyperhidrosis.”
Hyperhidrosis is the medical term for excessive sweating.
Although sweating can be a sign of an underlying medical condition, it’s also your body’s way of cooling itself - particularly when over exerting yourself or when temperatures rise.
Other signs of a heart attack include:
- Pain or pressure in the chest or arms which radiates to the neck, jaw or back
- Shortness of breath
- Dizziness
- Nausea or indigestion
- Fatigue
Dementia risk
In related news, having multiple conditions that affect your heart could be linked to a greater risk of dementia, warns a new study.
Led by Oxford University and the University of Exeter, the study is among the largest ever to examine the link between several heart-related conditions and dementia.
The research was published in The Lancet Healthy Longevity paper and looked at data from more than 200,000 people, aged 60 or above, and of European ancestry in UK Biobank.
Researchers found that people with conditions such as diabetes, stroke or heart attack were three times more likely to develop dementia.
