7 alarming signs of a Heart problem are 1) shooting pain on left side of chest.2) The pain is radiating towards the left arm and hand 3) vomiting 4) backache 5) Blackouts 6) Severe headache 7) Breathlessness.

If any of above are present, we will rush the patient to nearest hospital which has facilities for Cardiac Emergencies.

Doctors will rule out a heart attack if-

Troponin T test is negative after doing an ECG which may or may not confirm a heart attack.

Troponin T test is done on a strip, a drop of blood is put on specified area , if 2 lines appear it is positive. Remember that this Specific test for a heart attack may or may not be positive during 1st hour but continues to remain positive till heart muscle is 'Suffering' from Trauma and destruction.

Weeks after Repair work has been done, new tissues develop in muscles of heart and this Specific test gets Negative.

A troponin test measures the levels troponin T or troponin I proteins in the blood.

These proteins are released when heart muscle has been damaged.

The more damage there is to the heart, the greater the amount of Troponin T and I there will be in the blood.

This test is not expensive,is less than One Thousand rupees or less per strip,and every doctor, GP and specialist should keep the strips in Emergency bag.

Send the patient back home with full confidence that it has not affected/damaged the heart muscles.

Rest of the tests can be done later after symptomatic treatment is given as a first aid.

People do get blood tests as a routine for lipid profile, CBC, Thyroid profile,Vitamin D & B12 etc.

Add the following as Routine Warnings for heart trouble-

Liver function tests- High enzymes SGOT, SGPT means that there is extra load on liver.

C reactive protein- indicates inflammation anywhere in body.

C Kinase blood test- Creatine Kinase (CK)  is an enzyme which gets elevated when there is injury anywhere in the body- marathon runners will have high levels for a short periods. Yes the affected person if sensitive enough can feel for lumps here and there.

Prior to Troponin T test, this non specific test for heart disease was used to ' diagnose heart attack, presuming that 'some' of the muscles has been damaged.

Take care in preventing heart disease but never ignore the simple warning signals like High BP, High Sugar, High Liver Enzymes & High C-Kinase(CK)

All of the above can be controlled by modifications of Lifestyle & Liver enzymes + C-Kinase are controlled by giving More Oxygen besides  liver friendly diet.