What is the Difference Between Heart Attack and Gastric Pain

The key difference between heart attack and gastric pain is that heart attack usually causes pain or discomfort, pressure, and tightness in the center of the chest, which may move to the arms, neck, jaw, or back, while gastric pain usually causes pain or discomfort in the upper abdomen, which may move to the chest.

Chest pain can be normal or serious. It may be caused by temporary poor blood flow to the heart (angina) or by a sudden blockage in coronary arteries, which is called a heart attack. Aside from the heart, many parts of the chest can cause chest pain, including the lungs, oesophagus, muscle, bone, and skin. Some of these other causes of chest pain may include gastric pain (indigestion), muscle strain, inflammation in the joints near the breastbone, and shingles.

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Heart Attack
3. What is Gastric Pain
4. Similarities – Heart Attack and Gastric Pain
5. Heart Attack and Gastric Pain in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Heart Attack vs Gastric Pain

What is a Heart Attack?

Heart attack is a medical emergency condition that usually causes pain or discomfort, pressure, and tightness in the center of the chest, which may move to the arms, neck, jaw, or back. A heart attack occurs when the flow of blood to the heart is severely reduced. It is caused due to the blockage of coronary arteries by the build-up of fat, cholesterol, and other substances. The fatty, cholesterol contacting deposits are called plaques, and the process of plaques building up is called atherosclerosis. The symptoms of a common heart attack may include chest pain that may feel like pressure, tightness, pain, squeezing or aching, pain that spreads to the shoulder, arm, back, neck, jaw, teeth, or upper belly, cold sweat, fatigue, heartburn or indigestion, light-headedness or sudden dizziness, and shortness of breath.

A heart attack can be diagnosed through electrocardiogram (ECG), blood test, chest X-ray, echocardiogram, coronary catheterization (angiogram), cardiac CT, or MRI (magnetic resonance). Furthermore, the treatment options for heart attacks include medications such as aspirin, clot busters, blood-thinning medications (heparin), nitroglycerin, morphine, beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors, statins, and other surgical procedures like coronary angioplasty, stenting, and coronary artery bypass surgery.

What is Gastric Pain?

Gastric pain is a condition that causes pain in the middle of the upper abdomen. Though gastric refers to the stomach, gastric pain may also originate from other areas such as the gallbladder, pancreas, and small intestine. The causes of gastric pain include indigestion, flatulence, stomach virus, gallstones, liver or pancreas issues, and bowel obstruction.

The symptoms may include nausea, vomiting, fatigue, fever, flatulence, heartburn, belching, blood in stools, weight loss, skin that appears yellow, severe tenderness when touching the abdomen, and swelling of the abdomen. Moreover, gastric pain can be diagnosed through stool or urine tests, blood tests, barium swallows, endoscopy, X-ray, CT-scan, ultrasound, colonoscopy, and sigmoidoscopy. Furthermore, the treatment options for gastric pain may include medications to relieve inflammation, prevent acid and reflux, treat ulcers or infections, surgeries to treat a problem in an organ, bowel rest (stop eating or eating food that is easy to digest), hydration, heat therapy (trying a warm bottle), and home remedies (licorice for gas, ginger for indigestion, peppermint to help relax the intestinal muscles).

What are the Similarities Between Heart Attack and Gastric Pain?

Heart attack and gastric pain are two medical conditions that can cause chest pain.
Both conditions may have similar symptoms, such as heartburn and pain.
These conditions may be diagnosed through physical examination and imaging testing.
They are treated through specific medicines and surgeries.

What is the Difference Between Heart Attack and Gastric Pain?

Heart attack is a medical emergency condition that usually causes pain or discomfort, pressure, and tightness in the center of the chest, which may move to the arms, neck, jaw, or back, while gastric pain is a normal condition that usually causes pain or discomfort in the upper abdomen which may move to the chest. So, this is the key difference between heart attack and gastric pain. Furthermore, a heart attack is caused by reducing blood flow to the heart due to the blockage of coronary arteries by the build-up of fat, cholesterol, and other substances. On the other hand, gastric pain is caused by indigestion, flatulence, stomach virus, gallstones, liver or pancreas issues, and bowel obstruction.

The below infographic presents the differences between heart attack and gastric pain in tabular form for side-by-side comparison.

Summary – Heart Attack vs Gastric Pain

Heart attack and gastric pain can cause chest pain or discomfort. Heart attack is a serious medical emergency condition. It usually causes pain or discomfort, pressure, and tightness in the center of the chest, which may move to the arms, neck, jaw, or back. But gastric pain is a normal condition. It usually causes pain or discomfort in the upper abdomen, which may move to the chest. This is the key difference between heart attack and gastric pain.

Reference:

1. “Heart Attack: Symptoms, Causes, Treatment, and Prevention.” WebMD.
2. “Stomach.” HealthXchange.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Blausen 0463 HeartAttack” By Blausen Medical Communications, Inc. (CC BY 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Stomach Pain” By Mohamed Hassan (CC0) via Stock Vault