“I thought I was in good shape. That’s the problem. I walked every day, seven days a week, ”said Jones.
He was surprised, but his silent attack is not uncommon.
“One in three people who have a heart attack have no symptoms,” said Dr. Michael Gurule, a cardiologist at the Lovelace Health System.
He said that adults of all ages can have some form of heart disease.
“What happens to most people is that they get coronary heart disease. They have a history of diabetes, hypertension. Smoking is, unfortunately, the worst, ”said Dr. Gurule.
Most people will not know that their heart is in trouble until a heart attack occurs. He said there are warning signs known as symptoms of angina, which alert people to a possible heart attack. However, not everyone receives a clear warning.
“When you have this pressure on your chest, I’m sorry to say that it only happens once in three times,” said Dr. Gurule. “The second group will feel something, but they are unlikely to think it’s the heart. It will feel like discomfort in the jaw. It will look like indigestion. I have had people who went to the dentist because they had toothache ”.
He said the scariest group were people like Jones – who received no warning.
Gurule recommends that people check their family cardiac history, get tested, do a stress test, exercise and eliminate harmful health habits, such as smoking.