If you experience gastric pains (heartburn), be careful as it could potentially be a heart attack.
Heartburn may not be a worrying symptom for patients with Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD).
However, the sharp pain towards the chest might actually be a sign of a heart attack.
This is why when a patient is rushed to the hospital due to chest pains, doctors will typically run a test to determine if the patient experienced a heart attack or not.
On Twitter, a public health doctor, Dr Khairul Hafidz said the main symptoms of a heart attack could are classified as typical or atypical (not typical).
Typical symptoms are discomfort on the left side of the chest that feels like pressure, pain towards the left arm (which could extend towards both arms, neck, jaw or back). In addition to that, patients could also experience cold sweat, lack of breath, nauseousness or headaches.
Meanwhile, atypical syndoms include tiredness, feeling weak, numbness towards the upper body, throbbing pains, gassiness, loss of appetite, constant heartburn.
Based on his experience, Dr Khairul said he has met with patients who showed typical symptoms such as heartburn.
"If the patient that comes in with a heartburn has also been diagnosed with high risk conditions such as chronic illnesses or old age, the first step I would take is to run an ECG (electrocardiogram) test.
"There are multiple diagnosis for heartburn that could lead to death such as internal bleeding in the stomach or stomach ulcer that was left untreated.
"It we suspect that it could be bleeding in the stomach, we will proceed to insert a camera into the digestive system to visually see if any bleeding might have occurred. Checking their stool and bile colour could also help,” he wrote.
He explained that if a person has gastric issues, there’s only a slim chance that it will lead to death.
"There has to be other factors a person would bleed inside the stomach or experience a heart attack.
"If a patient experiences prolonged symptoms even after consuming medicine, take that as a sign to see the doctor.
"The concept of medicine itself is pretty complex, we have to understand the symptoms and make sure to run extra tests in order to properly diagnose the patient," he said.
Heartburn symptoms can include:
- Burning sensation on the chest under the chest cage.
- Chest pains after tilting forward or lying down after a meal.
- Burning sensation in the throat area, sweet or sour fluids on the back of the throat.
- Burps.
- Bad coughs.
- Hoarse voice
- Breathing similar to an asthma attack
- Ensure to avoid food that can induce a heartburn, such as spicy food like curry. Avoid artificially sweetened drinks as well as carbonated drinks.
- Avoid greasy food as the high amount of fat takes longer time to digest, which in turn can cause bloating.
- Practice eating smaller, frequent meals as it simplifies the work of the gut to digest and absorb the nutrients as compared to bigger portions.
- Practice eating slowly, chew food properly instead of swallowing bigger chunks.
- Do not eat when you’re feeling emotional, stressed, worried or frustrated as this can influence the aspects of your digestion.
- Stop smoking, as smoking can harm your digestive system in many ways.
Be sure to get yourself checked if you consistently experience a burning pain your chest.