Rosie O’Donnell is urging people to know the signs of a heart attack, following her frightening experience last week.

The 50-year old comedian described what happened on her blog — sudden nausea, aches and other symptoms prompted her to do an online search for “women’s heart attack symptoms.”

She took a few aspirin and saw a cardiologist the next day.

One of her coronary arteries was 99 percent blocked.

A stent was inserted.

O’Donnell says she’s “lucky to be here” and warned fans on her blog: “Know the symptoms… listen to the voice inside… the one we all so easily ignore.”

O’Donnell’s advice is sound, but sometimes the symptoms can be so subtle, they can be extremely difficult to recognize.

There are actually four things that happen right before a heart attack — and knowing all four can make all the difference.

What Are the 4 Things That Happen Right Before a Heart Attack? Find Out Here.

O’Donnell is now one of 785,000 Americans who will suffer their first heart attack this year. Nearly a half million more will suffer a repeat attack.

And the majority of those attacks don’t have to happen.

Dr. Chauncey Crandall, chief of the cardiac transplant program at the esteemed Palm Beach Cardiovascular Clinic in Florida, practices on the front lines of interventional, vascular, and transplant cardiology.

Years of experience have afforded him the chance to detect little-known warning signs and symptoms like the four specific “things” he discovered.

Dr. Crandall was recently featured in a health special entitled These 4 Things Happen Right Before a Heart Attack. In it, he discusses the four specific deadly warning signs to watch for. He also tells the touching (and ironic) story of a man who suffered a devastating attack after ignoring the signs. 

As she said, O’Donnell is lucky to be alive. If she had recognized the signs, she would not have taken a few aspirin and gone to bed — she would have called 911 immediately.

But O’Donnell isn’t alone.

According to the government’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, many Americans fail to act on heart attack warning signs.

What’s Your Risk for Heart Attack? Take Dr. Crandall’s Simple Heart Test. Click Here.

Sadly, too many victims die because they do not know the most dangerous warning signs that a heart attack is near.

Timing is the most critical factor for survival. Statistics show a clear link between delay in treatment and disability or death — the amount of time that elapses between the onset of symptoms and receiving care.



Special Video Report: These 4 Things Happen Before a Heart Attack

Dr. Crandall, medical editor of the Newsmax publication the Heart Health Report, has a positive message for Americans: Heart disease can be prevented — and even reversed — with the right information and simple lifestyle adjustments.

O’Donnell survived her heart attack.

This year, 600,000 Americans won’t be as lucky.