Heart Attack
Signs of a blocked heart (coronary) artery:
- Chest discomfort – This includes uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness, tightness, burning, or other aching under the breastbone. These sensations last two minutes or more. Rest or nitroglycerin tablets do not relieve them.
- Pain – This can be felt in the neck and jaw, inside arm and/or shoulder (left side more often than right), upper abdomen (often mistaken for indigestion), and/or between the shoulder blades. Pain may be continuous—or it may come and go.
- Other symptoms – These can include shortness of breath, dizziness, weakness, clamminess, sweating and nausea.
- Women are more likely than men to experience pain high in the abdomen, nausea, and a burning feeling in the chest. All of these symptoms can be easily confused with indigestion. Studies show that when women have heart attacks, they are often misdiagnosed as having gas or stomach problems.
Stroke
Signs of a blocked or injured artery leading to or in the brain:
- Weakness, numbness or paralysis on one side of the body.
- Sudden, blurry vision in one eye—like a window shade coming down.
- Problems speaking or understanding speech.
- Loss of balance or severe dizziness, often causing a fall.
- Severe headache that comes on suddenly with no clear cause.
Leg problems
Signs of a blocked leg (peripheral) artery:
- Pain, cramps, and/or fatigue in the leg and/or buttock muscles while walking, climbing stairs and/or exercising. This type of pain (during exercise) is called claudication.
- Rest may help ease this pain—but claudication can occur even during rest when blood flow is significantly decreased.
- Changes in skin color and/or temperature on the legs, feet and/or toes.
- Sores that heal slowly—most often on the feet and/or toes.
- Impotence in men.
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