Heart Attack Resource Center
Health ConditionsCardiovascular DiseasesHeart Attack

Heart Attack

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A heart attack, or myocardial infarction, is a medical emergency that occurs when blood flow to the heart stops or becomes much lower than normal, often due to a blood clot. You may experience warning signs like chest pain, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, and pain spreading into the arm or jaw. Immediate medical attention can be lifesaving, and treatment typically involves medications and procedures to restore blood flow as well as cardiac rehabilitation to support recovery.

 Exercising more, quitting smoking, and eating healthy foods — along with regular follow-up appointments and sticking to your medication schedule — can reduce your risk of future heart attacks.

Common Questions & Answers

What are the early signs of a heart attack?

Early signs include chest pain or discomfort as well as discomfort in the arms, neck, back, stomach, or jaw. Breathlessness, a rapid or uneven heartbe at, fatigue, dizziness, and nausea can also suggest a heart attack. Women may have different symptoms.

Maintain a healthy diet, exercise regularly, and manage smoking, stress, and body weight to reduce your heart attack risk. Controlling underlying health conditions that increase heart attack risk, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, is also crucial.

Call emergency services immediately or have someone drive you to the hospital if you suspect a heart attack. If you have no other option, drive yourself. If a doctor recommends taking aspirin, do so, as this may help to prevent clotting.

Long-term effects can include other health problems, including atrial fibrillation, stroke, peripheral arterial disease, and kidney failure — as well as a significantly increased risk of future heart attacks.

Risk factors for heart attack include advanced age, being male, and having a family history of heart disease. Smoking, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, a sedentary lifestyle, obesity, an unhealthy diet, and excessive alcohol consumption also contribute to heart attack risk.

Meet Our Experts In Heart Attack
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Everyday Health’s team of board-certified physicians and health professionals contribute to the creation and review of content, ensuring that the information is useful, up to date, and accurate.
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Chung Yoon, MD

Medical Reviewer
Castle Connolly Top Doctor
Chung Yoon, MD, is a noninvasive cardiologist with a passion for diagnosis, prevention, intervention, and treatment of a wide range of heart and cardiovascular disorders. He enjoys clinical decision-making and providing patient care in both hospital and outpatient settings. He excels at analytical and decision-making skills and building connection and trust with patients and their families.
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Anurag Sahu, MD

Medical Reviewer
Castle Connolly Top Doctor

Anurag Sahu, MD, is the director of the adult congenital heart program at Inova Health System in Fairfax, Virginia. Previously, he was an associate professor of medicine as well as an associate professor of radiology at Emory University in Atlanta, where he also served as director of cardiac intensive care.

He attended medical school at the University of Missouri in Kansas City in its combined six-year BA/MD program. He then completed his internal medicine residency at Washington Hospital Center in Washington, DC; fellowship training at Rush University in Chicago; and advanced training in cardiac imaging and adult congenital heart disease at The Ohio State University in Columbus.

Dr. Sahu has published book chapters on cardiovascular imaging as well as a variety of journal articles in publications including The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplant, JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions, and the Journal of Thoracic Imaging.

Among the places that his career has taken him, his favorite was Kauai, Hawaii, where he was the only cardiologist on the island.

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Jennifer Logan, MD, MPH

Medical Reviewer

Michael Cutler, DO, PhD

Medical Reviewer
Castle Connolly Top Doctor

Michael Cutler, DO, PhD, is a cardiac electrophysiologist at Intermountain Heart Rhythm Specialists in Salt Lake City, Utah. His research interests include understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms of cardiac arrhythmia, gene therapy for cardiac arrhythmias, neural control of the circulation in sleep apnea, role of exercise in health and disease, and improving the management of cardiac arrhythmias (i.e., atrial fibrillation).

He completed his BS and MS in exercise physiology and was a member of the track/cross country team at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Prior to attending medical school, Dr. Cutler was an adjunct clinical instructor in the College of Health at the University of Utah and also served on the Utah Governor’s Council on Health and Physical Fitness. He then attended the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth for medical school and for his PhD in cardiovascular physiology.

After medical school, Cutler entered the highly selective ABIM Research Pathway physician-scientist training program at the MetroHealth Campus of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. During this time, he completed his clinical training in internal medicine, cardiology and clinical cardiac electrophysiology, served as chief cardiology fellow, and received the Kenneth M. Rosen Fellowship in cardiac pacing and electrophysiology from the Heart Rhythm Society. Following residency and fellowship, Cutler accepted a position as an assistant professor of medicine at the MetroHealth Campus of Case Western Reserve University until he joined his current partners at Intermountain Heart Rhythm Specialists.

Cutler's research has received meritorious recognition from the American Physiological Society, the American Heart Association, and the Heart Rhythm Society.

Cutler has been an author on publications in journals such as Circulation, Circulation Research, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, and Nature. He is board certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular disease, and clinical cardiac electrophysiology through the American Board of Internal Medicine.

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Katie McKinney, CPT

Medical Reviewer
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Resources
  1. Heart Attack. Cleveland Clinic. February 15, 2024.
  2. Life After a Heart Attack. American Heart Association. December 20, 2024.

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