{"id":5033,"date":"2022-12-09T10:13:08","date_gmt":"2022-12-09T04:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.fourthfrontier.com\/?p=5033"},"modified":"2023-04-12T16:02:52","modified_gmt":"2023-04-12T10:32:52","slug":"silent-heart-attack-what-are-the-risks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.fourthfrontier.com\/in\/silent-heart-attack-what-are-the-risks\/","title":{"rendered":"Silent Heart Attack: What Are the Risks and Treatment Options?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Did you know you can have a heart attack<\/a> and be totally unaware of it? You might picture a person clutching their chest in pain, gasping for breath, and collapsing to the ground. However, not all heart attacks are as dramatic or as easily recognized. Those which are not are called \u2018silent heart attacks\u2019, and they can be just as dangerous as their more noticeable counterparts. A silent heart attack occurs the same way a normal heart attack does: when one or more arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle get blocked. Without treatment, this blockage can cause permanent damage to the heart muscle and lead to serious health problems like heart failure and stroke.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is a silent heart attack?<\/b><\/h2>\n

Statistics <\/span>from The American Heart Association (ref. link<\/a>) show that 1,70,000 of the 8,05,000 heart attacks that occur in the United States each year are silent heart attacks. A \u2018silent heart attack\u2019 is a heart attack with unrecognised, mild, or no symptoms. It is also called a \u2018Silent Ischemia\u2019 or a \u2018Silent Myocardial Infarction\u2019(SMI), and is often misinterpreted as indigestion, excessive fatigue, or a strained muscle in the chest. Many times, when you get your ECG<\/a> done as part of routine checkups, you end up being diagnosed with a heart attack that you had no idea you’d had.<\/span><\/p>\n

What are the risks?<\/b><\/h2>\n

One of the greatest risks of a silent heart attack is that it often goes undetected until it’s too late. Because there are usually no noticeable symptoms, people often don’t realise they’re having one until the heart muscle is severely damaged\u2014which can happen very quickly. Most individuals who have a silent heart attack do not seek immediate treatment. This increases the likelihood of a second, potentially more severe heart attack, which can lead to complications such as heart failure and stroke. People who have a Silent heart attack but do not receive treatment are <\/span>three times more likely to die from <\/span>coronary artery disease (ref. link<\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\n

According to <\/span>this study (ref. link<\/a>),<\/span> people who have experienced a silent heart attack have a 35% higher risk of developing <\/span>heart failure than those who do not exhibit any symptoms of a heart attack<\/a>. Silent heart attacks may also <\/span>increase the risk of stroke (ref. link<\/a>) <\/span>later in life. All this considered, it should be clear that, over time, silent heart attacks are just as fatal as diagnosed ones.<\/span><\/p>\n

Silent heart attack and diabetes<\/b><\/h2>\n

The occurrence of Silent heart attacks are especially common for people with diabetes, making the condition a <\/span>major risk factor for SMI. Due to the common side effect of nerve damage in diabetic patients, warning signs like chest pain may be harder to perceive.\u00a0Silent myocardial infarction (SMI) is extensive and more severe in diabetic than in non-diabetic patients (ref. link<\/a>).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The impact of a silent heart attack is similar to the impact of a heart attack with visible symptoms. People who experience a silent heart attack have a higher risk of:<\/span><\/p>\n