When most men think about heart attacks, they picture someone clutching their chest and collapsing dramatically. But real-world heart attacks often look nothing like the movies. If you’re over 45 with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, or a family history of heart disease, this message is for you.1 At Great Falls Hospital Heart and Vascular Center in Great Falls, Montana, our cardiology team wants men to understand the full spectrum of heart attack warning signs. Recognizing subtle signs could save your life.
February is American Heart Month, and we’re addressing something we hear too often in our clinic: “I didn’t think it was serious enough to call 911.” Many men, especially those already managing conditions like diabetes or high blood pressure, assume a heart attack is unmistakable. The truth is more complicated.
Heart disease remains the leading cause of death for men in the United States, according to the American Heart Association.1 Your risk climbs even higher if you’re dealing with high cholesterol, obesity, chronic kidney disease, or diabetes.1,2 While some heart attacks do involve sudden, severe chest pain, many begin quietly with subtle warning signs that develop over hours or even days.3
Learn to Recognize These Warning Signs Now
The most common heart attack symptom in men is chest discomfort, which can feel like pressure, squeezing, fullness, or pain in the center of your chest that lasts more than a few minutes or comes and goes.3 But this isn’t the only warning sign, and sometimes chest pain isn’t present at all.
Other heart attack symptoms men experience include:3
- Discomfort in your arms, back, neck, jaw, or stomach
- Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort
- Breaking out in a cold sweat
- Nausea or vomiting
- Lightheadedness or dizziness
- Unusual fatigue or weakness
Why Heart Attack Symptoms Get Dismissed
When you’re juggling multiple health conditions, new symptoms often get blamed on existing problems:4
- Heaviness in your chest? You might blame your weight or your COPD
- Persistent indigestion? Maybe it’s your medication or something you ate
- Unusual fatigue? Perhaps you just overdid it yesterday
- Shortness of breath? You might chalk it up to your sleep apnea keeping you tired
Your body might be signaling something urgent about your heart. Men with diabetes need to be especially vigilant; nerve damage can dull heart attack symptoms, leaving you with only mild discomfort or unexplained tiredness.5
Know When to Call 911 For Heart Attack Symptoms
Trust your instincts. If something feels different or wrong, even if you can’t identify exactly what, don’t rationalize it away.
Call 911 immediately if you experience:
- Chest discomfort that doesn’t go away after a few minutes
- Discomfort combined with shortness of breath, cold sweats, nausea, or lightheadedness
- Sudden, severe symptoms even if they seem to improve
- Unusual fatigue or weakness that appears suddenly
- Any symptoms that feel different from your normal health challenges
This is critical if you have diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or existing heart disease. Don’t drive yourself to the hospital. Don’t wait to see if symptoms pass. Emergency medical services begin life-saving treatment immediately.
Heart Disease Prevention: Screenings at Great Falls Hospital Heart & Vascular
Many heart attacks are preventable through early detection and proactive management. Men should begin regular heart health screenings by age 40, or earlier if you have a family history of heart disease, smoke, live with obesity, lead a sedentary lifestyle, or manage conditions like diabetes or high blood pressure.6 If you’re hesitant about screenings, consider this: early detection can be the difference between prevention and emergency.
What Great Falls Hospital Heart & Vascular screens for:
- Blood Pressure Monitoring: High blood pressure often has no symptoms, but it significantly increases heart attack risk.
- Cholesterol Testing: Simple blood tests monitor your cholesterol levels and assess cardiovascular risk.
- Glucose Testing: We check glucose levels to identify diabetes or prediabetes, both of which are major cardiovascular risk factors.
For men over 45 with risk factors, regular monitoring isn’t optional—it’s essential, and our primary care providers will work with you to create a screening schedule that matches your specific risk profile.
Schedule Your Heart Health Screening Today
At Great Falls Hospital Heart & Vascular, our cardiology team works closely with primary care to provide comprehensive cardiac care, from advanced diagnostic testing to ongoing management of heart conditions. We understand the unique challenges men face when managing multiple health conditions.
This February, take your heart health seriously. Know the warning signs, and remember: with your risk factors, it’s always better to seek help and be wrong than to wait and be sorry.
Contact Great Falls Hospital Heart & Vascular today at (406) 205-1915 to schedule your heart health screening.
Sources:
- (2024). Heart Disease Facts. CDC. https://www.cdc.gov/heart-disease/data-research/facts-stats/index.html#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20CDC%2C%20heart%20disease%20is,%20Physical%20inactivity%20%20Excessive%20alcohol%20use
- (2024). Coronary Heart Disease Risk Factors. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/coronary-heart-disease/risk-factors
- (2024). Coronary Heart Disease Symptoms. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/coronary-heart-disease/symptoms
- Surprising Body Cues That Could Be a Heart Concern. Johns Hopkins Medicine. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/surprising-body-cues-that-could-be-a-heart-concern
- How Your Diabetes Can Mask Heart Disease or a Heart Attack. Cleveland Clinic. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/could-your-diabetes-be-masking-silent-heart-disease
- Seven health screenings every man should get, and when. UAB Medicine. https://www.uabmedicine.org/news/seven-health-screenings-every-man-should-get-and-when/