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Sudden cardiac arrests aren't always sudden, according to researchers. New research reveals that more than half of men experience warning signs up to a month before they suffer cardiac arrests.

The study, which involved men between the ages of 35 and 65 years old living in Oregon, found that 53 percent of men had symptom before their cardiac arrest.

Researchers identified 567 men who had out-of-hospital cardiac arrests.

Of the symptoms, 56 percent experienced chest pain, 13 percent had shortness of breath and 4 percent had dizziness, fainting or palpitations.

The study revealed that almost 80 percent of the symptoms occurred between four weeks and one hour before the sudden cardiac arrest.

While most men had coronary artery disease, only about half had been tested for it before their cardiac arrest.

"The lesson is, if you have these kinds of symptoms, please don't blow them off," Sumeet Chugh, M.D., senior author and associate director for genomic cardiology at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, said in a news release. "Go see your healthcare provider. Don't waste time."

The findings were presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2013.