Silent Heart Attacks: Could You Have a Heart Attack and Not Even Know It?

Every year, almost 200,000 Americans suffer a heart attack — and don’t even know it.

Recent research from Duke University Medical School utilizing sophisticated imaging technology indicates these so-called silent heart attacks occur much more frequently than previously suspected.

Silent heart attacks, referred to medically as unrecognized myocardial infarctions, may be painless, or at least cause no pain obviously related to the heart. Additionally, they may not show any clear abnormalities on typically used electrocardiogram tests.

Unfortunately, the Duke University researchers found these silent heart attacks to be associated with a shockingly high risk of death. In these cases, death may be the first and only sign of a heart attack.

Four things in particular, that are some of the most ominous signs of an unrecognized heart attack, are the focus of a recent free video presentation by renowned cardiovascular expert Dr. Chauncey Crandall — Silent Heart Attacks: A Special Newsmax Heart Health Report.

Dr. Crandall, who has performed over 40,000 heart procedures, created this special video to help the public become more aware of potential heart attack “red flags” before it becomes too late to intervene medically and survive damage to the heart.

According to Dr. Crandall, the most crucial factor to help improve the odds of surviving a heart attack is seeking immediate treatment. Conversely, a delay in seeking treatment could easily mean death or long-term disability.

That’s why it’s critical to know what to look for in terms of signs and symptoms, especially when they don’t seem related to the heart — like the four things Dr. Crandall discusses in his video, Silent Heart Attacks: A Special Newsmax Heart Health Report.

Developed as a public educational tool, this video quickly went viral, surpassing five million viewers over just a few months.

In the video, Dr. Crandall also tells the real-life story of a “widow-maker” heart attack that could have been prevented. There’s a surprising twist to this story that has to be seen to be believed.

Dr. Crandall, chief of the cardiac transplant program at the renowned Palm Beach Cardiovascular Clinic in Florida, practices on the front lines of interventional, vascular, and transplant cardiology. Decades of experience have afforded him the chance to identify little-known heart attack warning signs and symptoms like the ones he addresses in the video.

He also discusses a number of simple strategies to help prevent — and even reverse — heart disease, the #1 killer of Americans today.

Editor’s Note: For a short time, Newsmax Health is making Silent Heart Attacks: A Special Newsmax Heart Health Report available at no charge. Click the video’s title to discover the four little-known things that can happen before a heart attack.