12.03.2008 1:02 am
When having a heart attack, can coughing save you?
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Every once in awhile, it arrives in my in-box with instructions to forward it to loved ones: an e-mail claiming that if you’re having a heart attack and you’re alone, you can perform CPR on yourself by coughing forcefully and repeatedly. Is this true? Yes and no.
According to Snopes.com, medical experts have found that in certain types of cardiac crisis coughing does work. But in other instances it might very well be what kills you. In other words, it’s extremely risky and health experts recommend you not do it. Instead, they and the American Heart Association recommend eating mashed up aspirin at the onset of chest pain or other symptoms of a severe heart attack. And then, of course, call 911.
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Cindy Billhartz Gregorian is a features reporter at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She has reported for the Healthy & Fit section since its first issue. She's a distance runner with seven marathons under her belt. 
