The warning signs of heart attack vary.

Symptoms can start suddenly or develop over time and get progressively worse. People may have just one symptom or a combination of symptoms.

The patient may feel discomfort or pain in the centre of the chest. This pain may:

• start suddenly, or start slowly over minutes
• be described as tightness, heaviness, fullness or squeezing
• be severe, moderate or mild
• spread to the neck and throat, jaw, shoulders, the back, and one or both arms.

Atypical signs and symptoms

However, not all patients define their pain as a heaviness or squeezing. The patient may also:

• feel short of breath
• have a choking feeling in the throat
• feel that their arms are ‘heavy’ and ‘useless’
• feel nauseous
• have a cold sweat
• feel faint or dizzy.

Only minimal symptoms may be described by women, the elderly, people with diabetes or chronic inflammatory conditions, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, Māori and Pacific Islanders. Symptoms may be only:

• breathlessness
• nausea
• arm or jaw pain.