Pain is not the only feature of heart attack

Abstract

EDITOR —Ruston et al conclude that if we are to minimise the time between the onset of myocardial ischaemia and the administration of thrombolysis “the myth that a heart attack is a dramatic event needs to be dispelled.”1Perhaps medical advice that includes the word “pain” is the single biggest problem. The article is based on descriptions from patients, yet the word pain is used only once, and then in the final paragraph, when the authors cite advice from health professionals. Pain is evidently the …