By the Cleveland Clinic
CLEVELAND – Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the United States.
Knowing how to spot a heart health emergency and knowing what to do can save someone’s life.
But, a new Cleveland Clinic survey shows many Americans often confuse symptoms and aren’t sure how to help.
The survey results showed 87 percent of respondents believe cardiac arrest is another term for heart attack – but they’re actually very different.
“Somebody that has had a cardiac arrest, that’s not the same as a heart attack,” says Steve Nissen, M.D., chairman of Cardiovascular Medicine at Cleveland Clinic. “Cardiac arrest is when the heart is either beating wildly or not beating at all and there’s no blood flow.”
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR, can be a life-saver during cardiac arrest, but the survey revealed only one in six people know the recommended technique.
“There’s been a change in recent years to chest compressions only, without mouth-to-mouth breathing,” says Dr. Nissen. “Many people didn’t know that in the adult, really all you have to do are chest compressions and many people didn’t know the rate at which to do them. The best rate is somewhere between 100 and 120 times per minute.”
When it comes to a heart attack – where a coronary artery becomes blocked – people often confuse the symptoms with those of a stroke.
“Many people in our survey thought that having slurred speech or weakness is actually a symptom of heart attack, when in fact that’s a symptom of stroke,” says Dr. Nissen. “People who have a heart attack are going to have pain; usually in the center of the chest; it can go to the jaw or down the left, or down both arms. It’s often associated with nausea or shortness of breath.”
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