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A member asked:
Why does a heart attack often mainfest in the left arm and shoulder?
4 doctors weighed in across 2 answers
Reffer pain: Nerves from damaged heart tissue convey pain signals to spinal cord levels t1-t4 on the left side, which happen to be the same levels that receive sensation from the left side of the chest and part of the left arm. The brain isn't used to receiving such strong signals from the heart, so it interprets them as pain in the chest and left arm.
Answered 3/23/2018
5.7k views
Neuroanatomy: In many people the sensory nerves that carry pain information from the heart will join the spinal cord near where the pain information from the jaw, left arm, shoulder or back join - the brain can have trouble sorting this out and sometimes ascribes pain from a heart attack to these other locations.
Answered 4/16/2016
5.7k views
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