Panchayat actor Aasif Khan discharged, says he had acid reflux: How to differentiate it from a heart attack?
'First of all, I want to clarify — it was not a heart attack. The symptoms felt like a heart attack, but I'm totally fit,' he told a publication. Apparently Aasif had driven straight from his hometown in Rajasthan to Mumbai. Later that evening, he experienced chest pain, fainted in the bathroom and was rushed to the hospital. He was subjected to a battery of tests to rule out any condition and has been advised lifestyle and diet changes. He has reportedly been advised to stop eating dal baati, limit his animal protein and work out more.
'Most Indians have heavy meals at odd hours and then suffer severe acid reflux and heartburn, which might trouble them, particularly at night. Sometimes these symptoms tend to mimic those of a heart attack. Given that Indians are at a higher risk of heart disease than any other population, we usually ask patients to rush to the nearby hospital emergency room to get clarity,' says Dr Ranjan Shetty, lead cardiologist at Sparsh Hospital, Bengaluru.
It is a digestive disorder where stomach acid frequently flows back into the esophagus, causing irritation and discomfort. This backflow, also known as acid reflux, can lead to symptoms like heartburn and regurgitation. While occasional acid reflux is normal, GERD is diagnosed when these episodes are frequent or severe, damaging the esophagus.
Heartburn is discomfort or actual pain caused by digestive acid moving into your food pipe or esophagus. It is characterised by a burning sensation and discomfort in the chest and upper abdomen. Usually, symptoms manifest after a heavy meal but can be taken care of with antacids. Sometimes it is accompanied by reflux. But it gradually subsides. If the discomfort is stubborn, continues beyond 15 minutes, feels something you have not experienced before, makes you restless or uneasy, chances are you are getting a heart attack.
Sometimes chest pain may not occur on the left side, either in the left arm or the left part of the chest. You may then feel the pain away from the source, rolling anywhere in the upper part of your torso, be it at the back, neck, jaw, teeth, shoulder and behind the breast bone. Sometimes a heart attack manifests as a burning sensation in the middle of your chest and even causes some sweating. You may think it is a heartburn but it could be caused by a reduced blood flow to your heart because of angina or an actual heart attack brought on by blocked arteries. In fact, heartburn, angina and heart attack may feel very much alike. You cannot tell the difference by just looking at physical symptoms.
A neighbourhood clinic may not always insist upon an ECG and conclude you have gas and acidity. But a detailed investigation with an ECG and troponin test (which measures a protein related to heart muscle damage) gives clarity. The doctor looks at the patient's medical history and crosses out risk factors — smoking, hypertension, diabetes, cholesterol, sedentary lifestyle, dietary patterns, obesity and a family history of disease. Doctors should treat these overlapping symptomatic cases with the same urgency as they would more definitive cardiac cases.
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