One third (!) of heart attacks patients come to the emergency room without chest pain. They arrive, instead, with shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, palpitations, passing out, or cardiac arrest. Heart attack without chest pain is more common in older people, women, and people with diabetes.

Anyone who thinks they may be having a heart attack should call for an ambulance (“911″ in the U.S.A.) to take them to the hospital.

-Steve Parker, M.D., author of “The Advanced Mediterranean Diet”

Reference: Prevalence, clinical characteristics, and mortality among patients with myocardial infarction presenting without chest pain. Journal of the American Medical Association, June 28, 2000, vol. 283 (24): 3,223-3,229.