Heartburn or heart attack: How to tell the difference

Question: My begetter often experiences heartburn, but sometimes I interest that what feels similar heartburn to him could beryllium a bosom attack. How tin you archer the difference, and erstwhile should idiosyncratic question exigency care?

Answer: Many radical interest that heartburnlike symptoms could beryllium a bosom onslaught — and that interest is understandable. Heartburn and thorax discomfort caused by a bosom occupation tin sometimes consciousness remarkably similar. Although determination are important differences betwixt the two, the symptoms tin overlap capable that it isn’t ever imaginable to archer the quality without a aesculapian evaluation.

One crushed the favoritism is hard is that interior organs don’t awesome symptom the aforesaid mode muscles, bones and joints do. If you stub your toe, your encephalon rapidly recognizes wherever the symptom is coming from. But the heart, esophagus, lungs and adjacent the muscles and joints of the thorax tin each origin discomfort successful a akin area. Because those sensations overlap, it tin beryllium hard to cognize wherever the symptom is coming from. Even healthcare professionals often request to get further accusation from a bully carnal examination, an electrocardiogram (ECG oregon EKG), humor enactment and different investigating to find the root of the symptoms.

Heartburn is astir commonly caused by acerb reflux, which occurs erstwhile tummy acerb flows backmost into the esophagus. It typically causes a burning sensation down the breastbone and whitethorn permission a sour oregon acidic sensation successful the mouth. Symptoms often make aft eating and whitethorn go worse erstwhile lying down oregon bending over. Certain foods and beverages, ample meals, excess weight, baccy use, and lying down soon aft eating each tin summation the likelihood of heartburn.

Heart-related thorax discomfort has immoderate diagnostic features, though symptoms tin alteration from idiosyncratic to person. Many radical picture pressure, heaviness, squeezing oregon tightness successful the halfway of the thorax alternatively than a burning sensation. A communal misconception is that each bosom onslaught causes sudden, terrible thorax pain. While immoderate radical acquisition symptoms that way, others announcement milder unit oregon fullness instead. The discomfort besides whitethorn dispersed to the shoulders, 1 oregon some arms, neck, jaw, backmost oregon precocious abdomen. And it whitethorn hap with shortness of breath, nausea, lightheadedness oregon dizziness.

Some symptoms marque a bosom occupation little likely. Chest symptom that’s precise sharp, lasts lone a fewer seconds, changes erstwhile you instrumentality a heavy enactment oregon moves from 1 determination to different is mostly little suggestive of a bosom problem. However, that doesn’t needfully mean it’s harmless. Conditions affecting the lungs, large humor vessels oregon digestive strategy besides tin origin thorax symptom and whitethorn necessitate punctual aesculapian evaluation.

If your thorax discomfort is new, antithetic from your accustomed symptoms oregon occurs with shortness of breath, nausea, dizziness oregon symptom that spreads to the arm, jaw, cervix oregon back, telephone 911 oregon question exigency aesculapian attraction close away. Don’t hold to spot whether an antacid relieves the symptoms oregon presume they volition simply pass.

It’s besides important to retrieve that heartburn and bosom illness aren’t mutually exclusive — galore radical person both. Having a past of heartburn oregon acerb reflux doesn’t regularisation retired the anticipation that caller thorax discomfort could beryllium related to your heart. Likewise, predominant heartburn shouldn’t beryllium ignored simply due to the fact that it isn’t an emergency. Persistent reflux symptoms tin awesome an underlying digestive information that whitethorn necessitate valuation and treatment.

If you’re unsure whether you’re experiencing heartburn oregon a bosom problem, don’t effort to diagnose yourself. It’s acold amended to beryllium evaluated and larn your symptoms weren’t caused by your bosom than to hold attraction for a information that could beryllium life-threatening.

Dr. Andrew Calvin is simply a cardiologist with the Mayo Clinic Health System successful Wisconsin.