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Dr. Pradip Jamnadas, MD - Heart Attack Treatment and My Patient's Most Common Symptoms

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Author: Dr. Pradip Jamnadas, MD
Categories: Health
Tags: health
Views: 2 · Last viewed: 2026-10-16 20:06 UTC

Short Summary

Main recommendation: Dr. Jamnadas's main recommendation is that prevention is the best approach to heart attacks, and he advises getting a coronary calcium score to check for plaque buildup, since in his view a passed stress test or normal echocardiogram does not rule this out. Dr. Jamnadas advises that if you develop chest pressure that does not go away, you should take aspirin and seek emergency care immediately, noting that in his experience the artery generally needs to be reopened within about 90 minutes to limit heart muscle damage.

Key Points

  • A heart attack occurs when plaque in an artery cracks, a blood clot forms and completely seals the artery, stopping blood flow so the heart muscle it feeds begins to die.
  • Heart attack symptoms described include a heaviness, pressure, or squeezing in the chest, throat, or jaws that does not go away, an unexplained sweat, and a feeling of not being able to take a deep breath; the speaker notes pain is less typical than pressure.
  • Standard tests such as a stress test, normal EKG, or normal echocardiogram can look reassuring even when extensive calcium is present in artery walls.
  • Treatment for a STEMI (ST-elevation myocardial infarction) involves threading a wire through the clot and placing a stent, a spring-like device that compresses the clot into the artery wall and restores blood flow.
  • In unstable angina, the narrowing is often a combination of plaque and blood clot, not plaque alone, which is why stenting addresses both.

Details Worth Noting

  • Concrete instructions: If you think you are having a heart attack, take an aspirin, and get emergency care right away so you can be moved to the emergency room and then the cath lab.
  • Concrete instructions: Ask for a coronary calcium score, and if plaque is present, repeat the scan every year or two to check whether the score is rising.
  • Concrete instructions: Identify and address risk factors the speaker lists, including high blood pressure, hyperinsulinemia, obesity, and obstructive sleep apnea, and review your full dietary plan with a clinician to know what to eat and avoid.
  • Concrete instructions: Get inflammatory marker blood tests and a stress test to check for arrhythmias related to blockages.
  • In hospital treatment, the speaker says patients may receive aspirin, heparin to begin dissolving the clot, a small dose of a beta blocker, and sometimes Plavix or the clot-buster TPA if the cath lab is too far away.
  • Dr. Jamnadas says extreme emotional stress, extreme physical stress, and severe bereavement can also make plaques unstable.

Bottom Line

Because a normal stress test or echocardiogram can miss existing artery calcium, the speaker's practical takeaway is to find out your plaque burden early through a calcium score and act on it, while recognizing that a persistent heaviness in the chest needs immediate emergency care.