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DALLAS (AP) - Younger ER patients with heart attack symptoms should be asked if they've recently used cocaine, which can cause similar chest pain, the American Heart Association warns doctors. For these patients, honesty can be a matter of life or death: Some heart attack treatments can be deadly to someone using cocaine.
New guidelines published online Monday in the American Heart Association journal Circulation say that emergency room doctors need to be aware that symptoms of a heart attack in younger patients with no heart disease risk factors may be caused by cocaine use.
The drug can cause chest pain, shortness of breath, anxiety, palpitations, dizziness, nausea and heavy sweating — all symptoms of a heart attack.
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