The lack of oxygen causes the cells in the affected portion of the heart muscle to die. Symptoms of a heart attack includes a severe, crusing pain in the centre of the chest which persists. It may radiate to the back, neck, jaw or arms, and is sometimes accompanied by nausea and perspiration. Chest discomfort or pain that is very bad, gets worse, and lasts longer than 20 minutes, it may be crushing or squeezing or feels like a heavy weight on the chest. You may feel dizziness, lightheadedness, or feeling like you are going to faint. You will notice fast, slow or irregulat heartbeat. If the infarction covers a large area, or happens to hit vital areas of the heart, it can kill you.
If you have any of these symptoms, have yourself checked immediately as most of the damage to the heart muscle during a heart attack occurs in the first 6 hours, immediate treatment may prevent damage to the heart muscle and death.
After a heart attack, some patients are able to do physical activity like walking, swimming, cycling and even jogging. Exercise increases the body's work capacity while decreasing the demand on the heart for any given level of effort: the heart pimps more blood with each beat; the muscles extract more oxygen from the same amount of blood. The best kinds of exercise are those that involve the large muscles of the body, especially the legs.
The chances of having recurring heart attack varies according to the severity of the first attack and of the underlying coronary disease. Generally, the chances of having another heart attack within a year of the first are between one or two in ten years. Regular check-up after a heart attack may help to establish whether a patient is at higher or lower risk for recurrent infarction (or death). These days, doctors have demonstrated that certain drugs can dramatically reduce the chances of having a second heart attack.
However, note that some discomfort may not be symptoms of a heart attack but of a heart disease. Chest discomfort or pain that comes on or gets worse with exercise, stress, eating a large meal and goes away with rest may be a warning symptom of heart disease, so better check with your doctor immediately if you experience some of the symptoms indicated above.
