Men and women suffer DIFFERENT symptoms 24 hours before a cardiac arrest – these are what you need to look out for
- 90 percent of people who suffer sudden cardiac arrest at home die
- Men are likely to have trouble breathing for 24 hours before the loss of their heart function
- READ MORE: Microplastics first discovered in human HEARTS
The symptoms of cardiac arrest are different in men and women, experts warn.
A study of more than 1,672 individuals found that the most prominent symptom of impending cardiac arrest in women is shortness of breath, while in men it is chest pain.
Both men and women also had palpitations, seizure activity and flu-like symptoms.
The fatal complication – which the heart sees suddenly stops beating and deprives the rest of the body of oxygenated blood – causing about 450,000 deaths per year in the US.
In women, shortness of breath is the most prominent symptom of imminent cardiac arrest, while in men it is chest pain
Dr. Sumeet Chugh of Cedars-Sinai in California hopes her findings will lead people to quickly recognize signs of cardiac arrest and take action quickly.
About 90 percent of people who experience sudden cardiac arrest at home die.
However, a greater difference in symptoms between the sexes could help care providers more quickly notice the loss of heart function in male and female patients.
Dr. Chugh said: ‘Harnessing warning symptoms to conduct effective triage for those who need to call 911 could lead to early intervention and the prevention of imminent death.
“Our findings could lead to a new paradigm for the prevention of sudden cardiac death.”
For this study, the researchers used two existing and ongoing studies in California and Oregon, each designed by Dr. Chugh.
The data was gathered from emergency medical services reports for people aged 18 to 85 who had a cardiac arrest witnessed by someone else between February 2015 and January 2021.
The California study found that 50 percent of 823 people had at least one telltale symptom the day before. The Oregon study showed similar results.
In the latest study, scientists evaluated the prevalence of individual and sets of symptoms before sudden cardiac arrest and compared these findings to control groups who also sought emergency medical care with symptoms that later turned out to be slightly different.
They found that breathing difficulties in women were the only early warning sign significantly associated with cardiac arrest.
In men, chest pain, difficulty breathing and excessive sweating were all linked to cardiac arrest.
Cardiac arrest occurs when the heart suddenly stops beating and denies the rest of the body oxygenated blood, cutting off the supply to the brain and causing a person to lose consciousness.
When blood stops flowing to the brain, lungs and other vital organs, their function is greatly reduced and important body processes necessary to keep a person alive are halted.
Brain cells can die within minutes of being deprived of oxygen.
Most cardiac arrests occur when a diseased heart’s electrical system malfunctions.
More than 356,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur each year in the US.
Cardiac arrests are different from heart attacks, which occur when the blood supply to the heart muscle is cut off due to a clot in one of the coronary arteries.
Common causes of cardiac arrest include heart attacks, heart disease, and heart muscle inflammation.
Drug overdoses and heavy blood loss can also be a cause.
Delivering an electrical shock to the chest wall via a defibrillator can restart the heart.
The shock allows the cells in the heart to recharge, restoring the heart rhythm.
If a defibrillator is not immediately available, CPR can keep oxygen circulating throughout the body.
The research was published in the journal Lancet Digital Health.