Is it indigestion or something worse?

This is not a food safety issue but is still very interesting and certainly health related.

It is sometimes really hard to know if a person is having a heart attack or simply indigestion. It could even be a panic attack with shortness of breath and a tight chest.

One of them is potentially life threatening and needs immediate medical attention, whilst the other two need other solutions.

The Australian Heart Foundation estimates that there are around 54 000 heart attacks each year and that more than 400 000 Aussies will have a heart attack in their life times.

There has, until now, been no easy way to work out which it is. Traditional testing for heart attacks can take as long as six hours, with the person attached to an Electrocardiogram (EKG) and multiple blood tests to check chemical levels.

In Israel, a new test has been developed which saves time and money and potentially a lot of lives. A single drop of blood and a special test kit will now give Doctors the ability to determine if the person has suffered a heart attack, within 15 minutes. The kits are small, portable and they have been in use in Israel since March 2017.