Heart disease is the number one killer today. Men and women are both likely to become victims. Men typically suffer more heart attacks, but women’s can be deadlier, so it is important for both genders to monitor their heart health by making a number of simple lifestyle adjustments. A heart attack (also known as a myocardial infarction) is the death of heart muscle from the sudden blockage of a coronary artery by a blood clot. Coronary arteries are blood vessels that supply the heart muscle with blood and oxygen. Blockage of a coronary artery deprives the heart muscle of blood and oxygen, causing injury to the heart muscle. Injury to the heart muscle causes chest pain and pressure. If blood flow is not restored within 20 to 40 minutes, irreversible death of the heart muscle will begin to occur. Muscle continues to die for 6-8 hours at which time the heart attack usually is "complete." The dead heart muscle is replaced by scar tissue. Approximately one million Americans suffer a heart attack each year. Four hundred thousand of them die as a result of their heart attack.

Although chest pain or pressure is the most common symptom of a heart health or heart attack victims may experience a diversity of symptoms that include:

1.Pain, fullness, and/or squeezing sensation of the chest.
2.Shortness of breath
3.Heartburn and/or indigestion
4.No symptoms (Approximately one quarter of all heart attacks are silent, without chest pain or new symptoms. Silent heart attacks are especially common among patients with diabetes mellitus).

When there is severe chest pain, suspicion that a heart attack is occurring usually is high, and tests can be performed quickly that will confirm the heart attack. A problem arises, however, when the symptoms of a heart attack do not include chest pain. A heart attack may not be suspected, and the appropriate tests may not be performed. Therefore, the initial step in diagnosing a heart attack is to be suspicious that one has occurred.