1 in 4 Americans Know the signs of a heart attack?
 

This is actually surprisingly interesting....

ATLANTA - Only about 1 in 4 Americans know the warning signs of a heart attack and what to do first, according to a new government report. That's a decline in knowledge since the last survey in 2001, which showed nearly 1 in 3 to be well informed.

The study's lead author, Dr. Jing Fang, called public awareness in the new survey "alarmingly low." Fang is with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which surveyed residents of 13 states and the District of Columbia.

Heart attack warning signs can include one or more of the following five symptoms: shortness of breath; pain or discomfort in the chest; discomfort in the arms or shoulder; a feeling of weakness or lightheadedness; and discomfort in the jaw, neck or back.

Chest pain is the most common symptom. Women are more likely than men to experience some of the other symptoms, particularly shortness of breath and back or jaw pain, according to the American Heart Association.

Anyone experiencing these symptoms should call 911, the heart association advises.

The groups best informed of heart attack warning signs and what to do about them tended to be white, highly educated, and women. Also scoring well were residents of West Virginia, which has some of the nation's highest heart attack death rates.

Each year more than 900,000 Americans suffer a heart attack, and about 157,000 of them are fatal. About half the deaths occur within an hour of symptoms occurring, experts say.

Because different people experience different symptoms, it's important to be aware of all of them, doctors say.

"It's not always massive chest pain," said Wayne Rosamond, a University of North Carolina epidemiology professor and expert on heart disease statistics.

Of course, knowing is not the same as doing: Although most of those who got the heart attack symptoms right said they would call 911, other studies show that only about half of heart attack victims go to a hospital by ambulance, Rosamond noted.

Patients' concerns about lack of health insurance status or other matters may explain why so few go to a hospital, said Rosamond, who was not involved in the new study.

The CDC's findings were based on a random-digit-dial telephone survey of about 72,000 people in 2005.

In West Virginia, more than 35 percent of respondents from that state knew all five warning signs and that they should call 911, compared with 27 percent in the overall study population.

Iowa and Minnesota also were at the top of the list. The gap between West Virginia and the two other states was not statistically significant.

West Virginia consistently ranks among the states with the highest heart attack deaths rates, and also is a leader in smoking, obesity, high cholesterol and other heart disease risk factors. But it's not clear whether personal experience was the reason the state's residents were so well informed. Public health education campaigns or other factors may also explain the result, experts said.

Oh its just indigestion I'm gonna get another supersized burger combo.

I can see this being a big issue with many people. The symptoms are often considered to be something else maybe by the person having them. The costs involved are too expensive if someone's just having gas, heartburn, a little back or shoulder pain, etc...

At what point specifically do you call 911 and ride the ambulance only to find out it was the food or drink you had. How often do you take that trip? What point do you self-diagnose that maybe this is something else and you should call 911 again?

drop roll and super size it LMAO!!!!!!!!!

Well, you yourself can only tell how severe your symptoms are and unusual enough to call for help or have someone take you to the hospital....it happened to a friend of mine just a few days ago but he even had a minor heart attack a few weeks ago and didn't release it....until a few days ago he felt the chest pain bad enough to be taken to the doctors....so after test results, it happens to be that 3 of his arteries were cloaked....needs open heart surgery now....

Heart attack warning signs can include one or more of the following five symptoms: shortness of breath; pain or discomfort in the chest; discomfort in the arms or shoulder; a feeling of weakness or lightheadedness; and discomfort in the jaw, neck or back.

Shit I had that all day Tuesday and most of Wednesday, Thats why I only build 3 sets and cut 10 scenes. Ask Sebastian, No biggie Like fucking pain is not going to keep me from working. Fucking pansy's

NosMo

My dad thought he was having one the other day and called 911 turns out he tore the lining if his chest cavity

I dont know how old are you but i can tell you i have stopped eating burgers or try to avoid them as much as possible or meat in general.....