Features

• During a heart attack, most people experience pain in the center of their chest that lasts longer than a few minutes. The pain often feels like squeezing, pressure or indigestion. Some people also experience pain in their arms, jaw and between their shoulder blades.
  
  

Treatment

• The best way to survive a heart attack is to receive immediate medical attention. Today, emergency rooms are equipped to administer clot-busting and artery opening drugs to counteract a heart attack.
  
  

Time Frame for Treatment

• Ideally, clot-busting and artery opening drugs should be administered within an hour after a heart attack for optimum results.
  
  

Considerations

• Men and women often experience different symptoms when having a heart attack. Many women experience extreme fatigue weeks before a heart attack and many women never experience pain during an attack.
  
  

Warning

• Without timely medical care, people can and do die from heart attacks. Prolonged chest pain and/or pain in the upper body requires immediate medical treatment.