Warning sign of heart attack that could appear in your ear; know what the condition is called!

Heart attack is one of the leading causes of death worldwide.

An estimated 17.9 million people died from CVDs in 2016, representing 31% of all global deaths, as per the World Health Organization (WHO). Of these deaths, the global health agency suggests that 85% were due to heart attack and stroke.

One of the primary reasons behind such alarming figures is the disease's ability to strike suddenly and without any prior signs and/or symptoms. Even if symptoms appear, they are easily mistaken or misunderstood for something as common as an indigestion or heartburn.

That said, here are some warning signs of heart attack to beware of...

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According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center or left side of the chest that lasts for more than a few minutes or that goes away and comes back. The discomfort can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness, or pain. Feeling weak, light-headed, or faint. You may also break out into a cold sweat.

American Heart Association (AHA) suggests symptoms of heart attack may vary in men and women.

"As with men, women’s most common heart attack symptom is chest pain (angina) or discomfort. But women are somewhat more likely than men to experience some of the other common symptoms, particularly shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting, and back or jaw pain," the health body explains.

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Another very unusual sign that includes the ear is called ‘Frank’s sign’, which is a diagonal crease in the ear lobe extending from the tragus across the lobule to the rear edge of the auricle.

This condition was named after Sanders T. Frank, who was the first to observe the crease in patients with chest pain and coronary artery blockages. That said, it has been supposedly related to cardiac pathology, and has strongly been associated with coronary artery atherosclerosis.

However, there is no definitive answer or strong evidence to prove the same.

There are several theories behind Frank's sign.

Reports suggest that Frank's sign could be a predictor of cerebral infarctions. It has also been associated with premature aging and the loss of dermal and vascular fibers.

The severity can vary from Grade 1 to Grade 3.

Grade 1 includes a small amount of wrinkling on the earlobe. Grade 2a involves a superficial crease across the earlobe. Grade 2b is when creases spread more than halfway across the earlobe and finally, grade 3 involves a deep crease across the whole of the earlobe.

Heart attack is a condition that has several risk factors.

According to the Mayo Clinic, men aged 45 and older and women aged 55 and older are at greater risk of heart attack than younger men and women. Additionally, people with pre-existing conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome are more prone to a heart attack.

Apart from that, the healthy body points to certain lifestyle habits such as tobacco use, alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, stress, unhealthy diet as certain modifiable risk factors for heart attack.

The best way to prevent or reduce your risk of heart attack is by adopting a healthy lifestyle. Eating light and clean foods, getting regular exercise, managing stress and other health conditions can help minimize your chances of developing heart diseases.

If you're taking medications for certain heart-related conditions, then you must take it as directed and consistently.

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation or CPR is an emergency lifesaving procedure performed on a person suffering from a heart attack or cardiac arrest.

It helps keep the blood flow active, heart pumping, restores breathing and a heartbeat in a person who has gone into cardiac arrest.

Here is a step-by-step guide to performing CPR on a person suffering with a cardiac arrest/heart attack.

- After calling emergency medical help, perform 30 chest compressions. Place both your hands (clasped together) on the person’s breastbone, in the middle of his or her chest.

- Push hard and fast in the center of the chest, making the chest move inward about an inch.

- Press at the rate of 100 times a minute. Remember to let the chest rise completely between compressions.

Perform the CPR until and unless the medical help arrives.