We say "have a heart attack" (not "have heart attack").

We say "have a heart attack" (not "have heart attack").

She had a heart attack last Sunday.

She had heart attack last Sunday.

Most names of symptoms and self-diagnosed conditions are countable, and remember, we use a/an with singular countable nouns.

John had a heart attack in March 2022.

When using the expression "give somebody a heart attack" to refer to making someone suddenly feel frightened or shocked, follow the same rule.

Don’t give him a heart attack.

We also include the indefinite article with the expressions "suffer a heart attack", "cause a heart attack", "prevent a heart attack", "diagnose a heart attack", etc.

Olivia suffered a heart attack last week.

You can use a determiner (any, some, these, most, etc.) to identify or quantify a group of heart attacks.

Most heart attacks involve discomfort on the left side of the chest.

However, when using the plural form (heart attacks) in a general sense, omit the determiner.

Heart attacks require quick assessment and treatment.

A partial list of symptoms that require the article a/an:

• Allergy
• Backache (The article can be omitted in British English.)
• Cold
• Cough
• Cramp/Muscle Cramp (The article can be omitted in British English.)
• Earache (The article can be omitted in British English.)
• Fever (The article can be omitted in British English.)
• Headache
• Runny nose
• Sore throat
• Stomachache (The article can be omitted in British English.)
• Stroke
• Toothache (The article can be omitted in British English.)