While you might assume you would know if you were suffering a heart attack, that’s not always the case.
To be clear, the majority of heart attacks do cause symptoms. The most common are chest pain or tightness, arm or jaw pain or shortness of breath. Sometimes even nausea or fatigue.
But about 20 percent of heart attacks go unnoticed, silently harming your heart health. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, someone has a heart attack every 40 seconds, but not everyone knows it.
Cardiologist Dr. Andrew Freeman at National Jewish Health says silent heart attacks can happen to anyone, but people with diabetes may be more at risk.
Silent heart attacks are typically detected when imaging tests reveal heart muscle damage. Recent studies have shown having a silent heart attack increases your risk of having another heart attack or even suffering a sudden cardiac death.
That’s why it’s critical to listen to your body and when something is off or just not normal for you, get it checked out.