The Hollywood image of a heart attack has given us a clear image of what a heart attack should look like: sudden, intense and crippling pain that causes the sufferer to clutch at her chest before collapsing. In real life, heart attacks can look like this, but most start out much more slowly, with milder symptoms that can confuse a victim until it’s too late to get help.

A heart attack, or myocardial infarction (MI), is the most severe type of heart muscle pain, and it’s an indicator that a part of your heart muscle is dying. Most commonly, it is caused by a blockage of fatty deposits, or plaque, in a heart artery that has blocked off blood and oxygen flow to a part of the heart. If caught quickly, doctors can prevent death or severe heart damage by administering blood-thinning medicines or performing an angioplasty to remove arterial blockages.

Each year, about 1.1 million Americans suffer heart attacks and about 460,000 of them are fatal. Those who act quickly and make it to an emergency room often have a good prognosis, so it’s important to learn the early warning signs and not wait to call 9-1-1.

Heart Attacks In Women

In men, chest discomfort is the primary indicator of a heart attack. For women, other symptoms are far more common. In fact, only about 50 percent of women experience chest pain when having a heart attack. Women are more likely to report feeling back or neck pain, heartburn, nausea, vomiting, and extreme fatigue. Women are also far more likely than men to report feeling light-headed or dizzy.

Many of these symptoms aren’t immediately thought of as being related to a heart attack, so it’s important to learn these nine signs so that you or a loved one can act quickly and get help if you believe you may be suffering from one.

Chest Discomfort

Most people suffering from a heart attack will have pain or discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts for more than a few minutes, or that comes on, goes away and comes back. It can range from a feeling of pressure or fullness to strong pain.