Every year, more than 350,000 people suffer a cardiac arrest in which their hearts suddenly stop beating. The majority of them die, like TV anchorman Tim Russert and actor James Gandolfini. But research now indicates that some men who suffer a cardiac arrest seemingly out of the blue actually have telltale symptoms as long as a month ahead of time.
The researchers examined the health histories of more than 500 men who had cardiac arrests in Portland, OR, between 2002 and 2012. More than half of them had symptoms, including chest pain, palpitations, shortness of breath, dizziness and fainting at some point during the four weeks prior to their cardiac event. Although most of the men had coronary artery disease, three fourths of them had not been diagnosed.
The bottom line is that symptoms like this, particularly in middle-aged men, deserve prompt evaluation. Doing so might help prevent premature death.
[American Heart Association meeting, Dallas, Nov. 19, 2013]
