4. Are heart diseases curable? Heart diseases are not curable but they are definitely treatable.
5. When is chest pain an emergency?Chest pain can denote a benign condition or it could be a sign of a life-threatening condition.
6. How is the patient expected to differentiate?The following are indications by which the patient can understand if the chest pain is serious:
- Sudden feeling of tightness or a crushing or squeezing sensation in the chest
- Pain that radiates to the jaw, left arm or between shoulder blades
- Nausea or dizziness
- Sweating
- Shortness of breath /palpitations
- Angina symptoms occur even when resting
- Sharp chest pain after a journey
- Chest pains should also be taken seriously if the patient is middle aged, obese, a known diabetic or hypertensive or has a family history of heart problems. Actually there are no set rules. Sometimes even a minor chest pain could turn out to be due to something grave such as CAD. It is also important to seek medical attention if chest wall pain in a person persists or if the person has fever and cough that produces green color phlegm.