Having pain in the chest? It might be heart attack or heartburn

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With an alarming increase of heart disease related deaths across India, people are any pain in the chest or chest area as a cardiac arrest. However, a large number of patients being admitted to the hospital with cardiac arrest are found out to suffer from mere heartburn. To prevent the panic of heart attack, it is very important for patients and their family members to find out the difference between the two.

According to doctors, one of the foremost distinguishing symbol between a heart attack and a heart burn is that later is accompanied by breathlessness. Heartburn does not have symptoms like breathlessness. Secondly, cardiac arrest does not cause bloating or belching, which heartburn does.

Dr. Piyush Jain, Head of Preventive Cardiology in Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, Delhi, stated that uneasiness from heart burn can be treated with medicines that regulate acid levels in the stomach. In medical terms, there is no similarity between heart burn and heart attacks, though they seem to have common features. While heart attack is an ailment that takes place when there is loss of blood supply to the heart muscle, heart burn is just a symptom caused by acid influx from stomach to the food pipe. Though the pain related to heart burn is located in the chest, it is no way related to the heart.

Dr Devi Prasad Shetty, cardiac surgeon and Founder of Naryana Health, said that the two can be easily distinguished in seconds with a test called ‘CT angio'. The test can even predict heart attacks even 5-10 years aMhead, according to Dr. Shetty.