January 2011

Related links

26/01/2011

Hollywood heart attacks

If you really don’t want to know what happens in Eastenders this week it’s probably best to stop reading now.

Having given you fair warning of a plot spoiler, I don’t think I’m actually giving much away given how widely previewed it’s been that Eastenders’ Phil Mitchell will have a heart attack on the programme.

It’s always fascinating to see how heart attacks in TV programmes are portrayed as it tells us how people expect to experience a heart attack in real life.

This usually involves a character suddenly clutching their chest in excruciating pain before quickly collapsing to the floor. We’ve seen it plenty of times before in the soaps, Neighbours Jim Robinson and Coronation Street’s Mike Baldwin have both suffered this ‘Hollywood style’ heart attack.

Video

Soap operas are out to capture the audience’s attention so it’s not surprising that heart attacks are portrayed so often in a dramatic fashion.

However, we know that for many people this isn’t their experience of a heart attack. Symptoms can be very varied and often people can dismiss them as something innocuous like bad indigestion.

It’s a story we hear from lots of heart attacks survivors. I’ve heard from people who thought they’d pulled a muscle or who just thought they had heartburn and waited to the following day before seeking help at a hospital.

The reality is that heart attacks symptoms can affect people very differently. The symptoms include:

  • central chest pain; a dull pain, ache or 'heavy' feeling in your chest; or a mild discomfort in your chest that makes you feel generally unwell. The pain or discomfort may feel like a bad episode of indigestion

  • this pain or discomfort may spread to the arms, neck, jaw, back or stomach
  • as well as having chest pain or discomfort you can feel light-headed or dizzy and short of breath
  • You may also feel nauseous or vomit

You can probably see why a scriptwriter will opt for a character to have more dramatic symptoms and it helps get the message out that a heart attack can happen to anyone. But it doesn’t help get the message out about how different they can be.

We run campaigns to help people understand what a heart attack might feel like. We also created a short film to give people the chance to ‘watch their own heart attack’ and find out what it might be like to have one.

Video

That awareness is crucial as it’s really important to phone 999 at the very first sign of a possible heart attack. Every second counts when you are having a heart attack, and phoning 999 immediately for an ambulance means you should get treatment sooner, increasing your chances of survival.

There is no need to feel embarrassed about getting it wrong – saving your life is more important than saving face.

Have you had a personal experience of a heart attack? If you'd like to share it why don't you visit our Facebook page and post on the wall.