Besides backing up blood in a blocked artery, your heart attack also causes a sensation of pain to travel from your heart to your spinal cord, where many merge onto the same nerve pathway. Your jaw may be perfectly fine, but your brain thinks that part of the heart's pain is the jaw calling out for help. This kind of pain is called referred pain.
Your heart attack also affects your lungs. Your heart is so busy trying to save its life that it cannot worry about pumping blood to the rest of the body. Some fluid remains in your lungs, leaving you almost breathless.
Your brain is at risk, too. If your heart stops beating entirely, your brain cells will die in 3 minutes to 7 minutes.
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