Panic Attack or Heart Attack? Dr Sanjay Gupta Answers Your Heart Questions (Part 1)

Dr Sanjay Gupta is a leading consultant cardiologist in York, UK.


Transcript :

How do I know I'm just having a panic attack and not a heart attack?

Sanjay Gupta: So you can never absolutely know, but I can give you tips on what I think when I see someone and how I work out whether ... by far, things go wrong for four reasons and those are the four things I look at. Age, so if I see someone who is 20, who is complaining of palpitations or chest discomfort, I automatically think it's not likely to be a heart attack.

Heart attacks are largely a disease of older people, but if someone were 80 and they complained of chest discomfort, then that would be the first thing that would go through my mind.

Could it be the heart? 20, it would be the last thing on my mind. So who you are, your age is really important.

And the second thing is your genetics are really important. Now if you were someone who comes from a background where your family, every member of your family has dropped down dead of a heart attack at the age of 25, then I would take that a lot more seriously, but if you're otherwise well and there's no family history of any issues, then that makes it very unlikely.

And the third thing I guess is lifestyle. I look at the patient's lifestyle and if someone was a heavy smoker, who is very overweight, who has diabetes, who has high blood pressure, then that makes it a lot more likely. If on the other hand, there are otherwise well, they play football every day, they're thin, then that makes it very unlikely that they're having a heart attack.

It's always a good idea to get checked out if you have these symptoms, largely for reassurance if you're otherwise young and otherwise healthy.
The other thing I would say is that most people who have heart attacks,

Sanjay Gupta: When you have a heart attack, it is almost like an elephant sitting on your chest, that is the sensation you get. It is not a pounding in the chest, boom, boom, boom, that's not what heart attack ... people will say, I feel like there's an elephant sitting on my chest, it feels raw and feels sore and I feel clammy and they feel nauseous.

Nauseous is a really big feature and it's almost a feeling of impending doom, they feel like something is really wrong here. And they go gray, so I can go into a casualty department and I can tell who's having a heart attack just by their color, they actually go gray. Whereas people who have panic attacks, the symptoms are very dramatic. Boom, boom, boom, your hands are going ... you start developing tingling and pins and needles and you automatically think, pins and needles equals heart attack.

But no, I think it's who you are by far. Your age, your risk factors, your family history, and then secondly the nature of the discomfort is very important. People who panic will complain of pounding, they'll complain of stabbing pains or a vibration like pain, they complain of localized pain on one, side whereas people who are having heart attacks will complain of almost like being squeezed or crushed or something sitting on their chest.

Barry McDonagh: That's good to know because generally what comes up the most is that pounding heart or maybe it's the skipped heartbeats, all of that, but it's the heightened activity of the heart that's really scaring a lot of people who are in the fight-or-flight response.

Sanjay Gupta: That is very rarely ever the cause of ... that is very rarely ever the presentation of a heart attack, it is always a real discomfort or a heaviness.

[Joshuabhaus]

You just took off an elephant out of my shoulders after you said that very first thing!

[marklee]

by just watching Dr. Gupta's explanation, my anxiety symptoms go away on its own. feeling assured of my health..

[mbennett]

Lol nausea and impending doom are a huge symptoms of panic attacks for me 😭

[scrappy]

When he said 80 i thought he said 18 and i thought my life was over😭

[yakove]

i will always come back to this whenever i feel it reoccurring just like now because this doctor has helped me calm down!! bless this doctor!! on youtube glad i found you :))

[sumia.kawaguchi]

Thank you so much for this! As someone that suffers from a new anxiety surrounded around the heart, this hit the nail on the head!

[pollymeyers]

Barry, What a great interview. Dr. Gupta came across as knowledgeable, and caring.

[briandavenport]

My anxiety is too damn high to watch this.

[yakove]

0:40 when i heard that twice what a relive!!! this doctor was a huge blessing even after i went to my doctor twice and said i’m fine the anxiety still came back but that at 0:40 really is a relief ❤️❤️ so much relive! amen

[sufyanbharde]

I have this fear of having a heartattack even Dr Gupta is explains the difference makes me uneasy the moment I hear the term heart attack makes me anxious, I've got checked multiple times but my worry about my health doesn't go away 😔😔😔

[blacklable.]

What about people that gets nauseated when haven't anxiety or panic attacks

[rossb]

this is a great little video. I suffer from panic attacks and when they occur i get the shakes, which is probably caused by adrenaline

[Jaydunnnn]

Im 15, pretty active and no family history of heart disease but i’ve been feeling slight chest tightness but I cant tell if its a panic or a heart attack or something else.

[KingChibbi]

I can't find anything that can soothe me. When i have a panic attack my heartrate rises. I have a tremendous pain in my chest, shoulders and shoulderblade. My left arm hurts and feels warm. My neck pulls. My jaws will hurt and i feel scared. Tell me how i possibly need to understand the difference. I been to ER too much and told panic attack and been rqcking up bills. One day when it's what i fear most, i won't recognize it

[dorothycomerford]

Dr Gupta is such a wonderful dr continuing to share his knowledge to the people.

[brandonparsons]

Anxiety very often makes it feel like I have an elephant on my chest

[hewrecbizman]

Where it's still felt to me like a heart attack could be just starting to come on even though it was just a panic attack, is when I got a quite tight enough feeling in my chest or at the bottom of my chest. I'd then always think if that tight feeling there gets worse and also spreads way up into my chest, that then I'd for sure be worried about it being a heart attack.

[marcelrodriguez]

So you telling me that im always having a panic attack? Doctors did a EKG test and said my heart was fine. But my palpitations are constant all day, ive checked my blood pressure every day and its always in the 140/100 range. Short of breath and not being able to sleep since i always wake up feeling like im about to suffocate.

[yakove]

This video calmed me down i really needed to snap the fear

[melisskiss]

I had a heart attack 2 years ago I swear, my heart started beating fast around 5am, I flatlined, and they pumped me with all sorts of drugs. The hospital claimed I had a panic attack. Scary!!!