If you feel you are experiencing a heart attack or stroke,
please call 9-1-1 and your cardiologist at Cardiology Associates of Dallas 972-566-8474 right away (calls taken 24 hours a day).

Warning Signals of a Heart Attack

The American Heart Association and other medical experts say the body likely will send one or more of these warning signals of a heart attack:

• Uncomfortable pressure, fullness, squeezing, or pain in the center of the chest lasting more than a few minutes.

• Pain spreading to the shoulders, neck, or arms. The pain may be mild to intense. It may feel like pressure, tightness, burning, or a heavy weight. It may be located in the chest, upper abdomen, neck, jaw, or inside the arms or shoulders.

• Chest discomfort with lightheadedness, fainting, sweating, nausea, or shortness of breath.

• Anxiety, nervousness, and/or cold, sweaty skin.

• Paleness or pallor.

• Increased or irregular heart rate.

• Feeling of impending doom.

Not all of these signs occur in every attack. Sometimes they go away and return. If some occur, get help fast! In the event of cardiopulmonary arrest (no breathing or pulse), call 9-1-1 and begin cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) {link to http://www.thehealthpages.com/articles/ar-cprgd.html].

Signs of Stroke

• Sudden weakness or numbness or tingling of the face, arms, or legs on one side of the body.

• Vision problems, sudden dimness, blurring or loss of vision in one eye, double vision which lasts for a short period of time.

• Trouble speaking, slurring of speech, or total loss of speech.

• Trouble understanding speech.

• Unexplained headaches, or a change in the pattern of your headaches.

• Dizziness.

If you suspect someone is having a stroke, quickly dialing 911 could mean the difference between that person winding up disabled or making a full recovery.