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Understanding Heart Attacks

🕑 4 min read 🎥 5 min video ✅ Quick check-in

The basics

  • A heart attack occurs when the heart does not get enough oxygen due to blocked blood flow to the heart muscle. This is usually caused by plaque (fatty deposit) buildup in a blood vessel that has broken open, leading to a blood clot that suddenly blocks the blood vessel.
  • The amount of damage to your heart depends on how much muscle is affected and how long the blockage lasts. This is why it is important to get treatment for a heart attack right away.
  • Treatment involves restoring blood flow to the heart muscle and protecting against further harm. This is done with medications, and usually a procedure called an angiogram that allows the heart doctor to see the blood vessels around the heart. Sometimes blocked vessels can be opened during an angiogram. In other cases medications alone may work best, or bypass surgery may be discussed.
  • With the right medications, lifestyle changes, and follow-up care, most people go on to live full, active lives after a heart attack.

Understanding heart attacks

This video explains how heart attacks usually happen, what they can feel like, how they are treated, and what happens after a heart attack. Use the chapters below if you want to jump to any topic or re-watch a section.

5 min · Captions available View transcript
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Signs and symptoms to know

What it can feel like

  • Chest discomfort — pressure, squeezing, fullness, burning, or heaviness (not always a sharp "pain")

  • Discomfort in the upper body — neck, jaw, shoulders, arms, or back

  • Sweating

  • Nausea

  • Shortness of breath

  • Dizziness

Other things to know

  • Some people only have mild discomfort rather than what they would call "pain."

  • Some people do not get chest discomfort at all, but notice something in another part of the body instead.

  • Some people have only one sign or symptom, while others have many — there is no single "typical" heart attack.

If you think you could be having a heart attack

Call 911 (or your local emergency number) right away. Do not drive yourself, and do not wait to see if it passes — getting checked quickly is the single most important thing you can do.

How a heart attack is treated

Medication

The most important part of treating a heart attack is restoring blood flow to the heart muscle. Medications play two key roles: stopping new blood clots from forming, and protecting the heart muscle itself. You will learn about each of your medications in the next part of this program.

Procedure

Most people who have a heart attack also have a procedure called an angiogram, which lets your heart doctor see exactly where the blockages are in your blood vessels. Depending on what they find, serious blockages may be opened with one or more stents. In some cases, bypass surgery may be the best way to restore blood flow around blockages.

Long-term care & follow-up

Lifestyle changes that help protect your heart

  • Eating a heart-healthy diet

  • Exercising regularly (after you have recovered)

  • Quitting or avoiding smoking

  • Dealing with low mood and stress

  • Keeping blood pressure, cholesterol, and diabetes under control

Staying on track with follow-up

Regular follow-up with your doctor helps keep track of your recovery and makes sure things are on track. Bring your questions to these visits — even ones that feel small.

When to get help

Contact your healthcare provider if

  • You have questions about your recovery or your medications

  • You are not sure whether a symptom you are having is something to worry about

  • You want guidance on returning to activities like driving, work, or exercise

Get emergency help right away if

You have new or returning chest or upper body discomfort, with or without other signs and symptoms described above, especially if it feels like what led to your heart attack.

Also get help right away if you have sudden shortness of breath, fainting, or severe weakness.

Call 911 (or your local emergency number). Do not wait, and do not drive yourself.

Check your understanding

3 quick questions — this is not a test, just a chance to check that a few key points are clear before you move on.

You checked in on this on . You can look through it again any time, or retake it below.

Nice — you have covered the basics.

Question 1 of 3

A heart attack happens when…

A heart attack happens when a blood clot blocks one of the arteries that supply the heart muscle, cutting off its oxygen supply. That is different from cardiac arrest, which is when the heart stops beating — a heart attack can sometimes lead to cardiac arrest, but they are not the same thing.

If you had a stent placed to open a blocked artery during your heart attack…

A stent props open the artery that caused your heart attack, but it does not treat the blood vessel disease that causes most heart attacks. Along with protecting your heart, your medications work to help prevent new blockages from forming, including inside the stent itself. Even after your heart attack is treated to open the blocked vessel — whether with stents, bypass surgery, or medications alone — you still need medications to keep your heart's blood vessels open.

A few weeks after going home, you suddenly feel chest discomfort at rest, similar to what led to your heart attack. You take your nitroglycerin doses as instructed, but the discomfort does not go away.

Chest discomfort at rest that does not go away after taking your nitroglycerin is a medical emergency. Call 911 (or your local emergency number) right away rather than waiting for it to pass or driving yourself to get help. New discomfort like this that happens at rest, or that does not go away with nitroglycerin, can be the start of another heart attack. Even if the nitroglycerin does relieve it, get medical help right away, since something new could still be happening.