Heart Attack - Causes,Symptoms,Do's and Don'ts

Overview / Symptoms / Variations /
Causes / Risk factors / Prevention /
Diagnosis / Tests and Treatments /
Complications / Medication / Conclusion

Overview

    Heart attack is also called as myocardial infarction.It is a case in which the blood flow is blocked due to the formation of blood clot and without the supply of blood the heart tissue loses its oxygen and eventually dies.

     It is a medical emergency and requires quick treatment after medical diagnosis.The patient should be given treatment by a professional.this is short term disease and resolves within few days to weeks after diagnosis and treatment.

   

      Nowadays, due to lack of exercise and unhealthy lifestyle(which includes spicy, junk food,rich in fat and oil which increases bad cholesterol,drugs,smoking)it is very common among people, both from rural and urban areas(more than 10 million cases per year,  in India).Let us describe the disease,its symptoms, causes and the proper treatments for it.

Symptoms

                          Heart failure and heart attack both have similar symptoms. The main symptom include acute chest pain which may increase with time.
       
    The other symptoms may include:

          These all are normal and common symptoms between people.But these symptoms can be different in men and women.Chest pain is common symptom in both.But women may experience less obvious warning signs.Difference in those symptoms is as follows:           

             Symptoms in men:

               -nausea or vomiting

               -jaw,neck or back pain

               -squeezing chest pressure or pain

               -shortness of breathe

               -abnormal sweating

             Symptoms in women:

               -nausea

               -shortness of breath

               -abnormal sweating

               -jaw,neck or upper back pain 

               -chest pain but not always

               -pain or pressure in the lower chest or upper abdomen

               -shortness of breathe

               -fainting

               -indigestion

               -extreme fatigue

               -pain in other body parts also

Differences/Variations in symptoms

               The symptoms of heart attack vary and depend on their severity.The people at high risk are the ones suffering from high heart damage or who have had heart attack earlier also.Some of the patients may have mild pain or less pain than others ;some may have severe pain.The interesting thing is some of the patients may have no symptom at all.Some patients may suffer sudden cardiac arrest.The more the sign and symptoms you have,more you are at the risk of having the heart attack.
                Some of the patients may direct suffer from heart attack without any sign or symptoms.But it is very rare.Most of the people get signs much before having heart attack.The time varies from few weeks to months before suffering from the disease.The most primary symptoms of the heart failure is angina (caused by the decreased heart flow to the heart),which is mild pain in chest.It can be cured by taking some rest.

Causes

          The main cause of the heart attack is the blockage of the coronary arteries occurs.With time the arteries in heart get blocked due to accumulation of substances such as cholesterol.This accumulation is the result of lower body movements,lack of exercise and unhealthy food.This accumulation is also called as coronary artery disease or atherosclerosis.

              
 Ischemia is a condition as a result of this accumulation of plaque.In ischemia,the heart muscle is starved due insufficient supply of blood to the heart.The plaque ruptures and releases harmful substances in bloodstream, such as cholesterol.The clot is formed at the site of rupture and this blocks the blood supply to the heart.
                  The blockage is of two types.The artery may be fully blocked(STEMI) or it may be partially blocked(NSTEMI).The diagnosis treatments for these both may be different depending on the basis of their types.
                   Spasm of coronary artery is another cause of heart attack.It blocks the blood flow to the part of the heart and the spasm is caused due the excessive smoking,using drugs(cocaine) and tobacco.These substances may result in life threatening spasm.

Risk Factors of Heart Attack

           You all know what risk factors are.But still I explain them to you .Risk factors are those conditions which may result in atherosclerosis(narrowing of arteries) or accumulation of plaque which may cause blockage.You can avoid them by knowing what they are or prevent heart attack by maintaining and improving them.

                    Those factors may include:

• Age : Now a days it is the main cause.Because age weakens the body functioning and the organs may reduce their power due to the passage of time.It is mainly 45 for men and 55 for women.
• Tobacco : Active smoking is a main cause but passive or long time exposure to smoke is also a important cause.
• Obesity : Yeah,obesity now is the main cause for many of the diseases.Because the obesity results in high blood pressure,diabetes,lung problems and many heart diseases.This results in the accumulation of plaque and increased level of cholesterol in the blood sugar.Regular exercising also lowers the risk of obesity.
• Diabetes : Is caused when the body doesn't produce enough insulin.It may also be caused due to over eating,obesity,not exercising and unhealthy eating habits.
• High blood cholesterol level: This may be the cause of eating oily and fatty food,eating fast food and lack of body movements or exercise.This is the reason the coronary artery disease is caused.This accumulates in the arteries in the form of plaque and causes narrowing of arteries.Lowering the oil consumption and regular exercise may reduce these problems.
• High blood pressure: With time the arteries gets damaged due to high blood pressure.Nowadays this common among youth because the stress and tension causes weakening of mental power.This can be reduced by doing yoga or meditation daily.
• Lack of exercise: Lack of body movement or physical activity can be considered as the main cause of obesity,diabetes,high blood pressure.Exercise provides lot of oxygen to body.Simple running,cycling,walking may also reduce these problems.
• Drug use: As you know,everything over limit is dangerous.Over dose of drug causes decreased body metabolism and decreased functioning of body organs.This increases the risk of getting various diseases.Because the decreased metabolism also decreases body immune system.
• Stress: Stress also results in high blood pressure,the main cause of heart attack.
• Diseases from our elders: By checking the pedigree tree of the family we can know the diseases our elders had.Such diseases may also caused in future generation due to inherited traits.

Prevention

         If you survived a heart attack,then you must stay aware about the next time.The heart attack can be cured.By taking proper tips and maintaining self control towards bad habits is the prime thing you must do.Here are some ways by which you can prevent a heart attack.

• Saying no to tobacco or drugs.This is the first thing you can do to prevent heart attack.Tobacco and drugs also contain carcinogens which may result in causing cancer.
• Say hello to exercise and healthy lifestyle.Healthy lifestyle includes proper eating, regular exercising,medication,yoga and spending time in nature. Healthy lifestyle increases your good thoughts which in return provide you good health and disease free body.
• Consuming green vegetables.Green vegetables are the prime source of antioxidants which help to reduce or eliminate toxic substances from body.Which also results in lowering body fat and get rid of obesity.
• Taking everything in limit.Yes,main cause of every disease is over dose.Consuming sugar in control can reduce risk of blood sugar,daily exercise can reduce risk of getting fat and gaining weight ,over eating also result in weight gain.
• Stay in your limits.Maintain or set your goals and simultaneously reach your goals by dedication and self control.Reduce your unhealthy food consumption and rely on organic food.This will result in reduced rate of every disease.

           In this way you can reduce the risk of the diseases related to heart.Healthy lifestyle is the golden key for the success of healthy body.

How does it feel just before having a heart attack?

      If you didn't had a heart attack before,then how can you know that how does it feel during or before a heart attack?But research shows that, just before having a heart attack the body gets tired.We can feel pressure in the chest area which may eventually turns out into a burning pain.This is common symptom experienced by most of the people.

        But there are other symptoms also which can be or have been noticed in patients suffered from heart attack.Those symptoms may include:

• Jaw pain
• sweating
• heart pain
• heartburn
• shortness of breath
• toothache
• headache
• nausea
• vomiting         

Diagnosis

    The heart attack is diagnosed by your doctor in various ways.Which may include various tests and machines to get exact matter.But all this is followed after physical examination.Because every chest pain doesn't mean you are having a heart attack.It may be due to indigestion,gas and spicy food.

      After examining you physically,doctor will conduct an electrocardiogram or ECG. This monitors your heart activity and represents in the form of a graph.by carefully studying the graph your doctor will give you the result.The other tests may also include blood test to examine the heart tissue damage.

Tests and treatments

        If the results come positive then your doctor will conduct some tests and treatments depending on your cause.

      One of the test or process called cardiac catheterization. In this technique the surgeon inserts a catheter into the artery which contains a balloon.As it reaches the blocked area, then the balloon is opened which opens the blockage.But as the blockage is not removed totally the risk if blockage is still not gone.

         If you have had a heart attack,your doctor may recommend you some procedure which may either surgery or no surgery at all.These procedure may help to lower the pain or lower the risk of having another heart attack.

Some of the procedures are: 

• Angioplasty- It is the process in which the blocked artery is cleared by using a balloon or by removing the plaque buildup.
• Heart bypass surgery- In this surgery the blood is provided with other route instead of blockage.
• Stent- It is the wire which is inserted into the artery after angioplasty to keep the cleared artery open.
• Pacemaker- It is the device which is attached to the chest or the beneath the chest skin.It helps to maintain the heart rhythms.
• Heart transplant- It is the changing or replacement of the heart because it is damaged due to heart attack.Heart attack causes death of the heart tissue.
• Heart valve surgery- Sometimes the heart valves are replaced by the other valves because they start leaking and disturb the heart movements.

Complications

        These complications are associated with heart attack .Because heart can't bear the pain and sudden changes in heart due to attack.This can be associated with damaged valves or changed heart movements or disturbed rhythms. This condition is termed as arrhythmias.

        The interrupted blood supply can damage the heart tissue or it will result in the death of the tissue.This can damage the heart and further can turn into heart failure or other life threatening problems.

        Heart attacks can also affect your heart valves and causes leaks.The amount of time it takes to receive treatment and the area of damage will determine the long term effects on your heart.

Medications 

      Your doctor may prescribe some medications to treat the problem of heart attack.This will relief the pain and the symptoms will be disappeared sooner or later.

• aspirin
• drugs to break up clots
• painkillers
• antiplatelet and anticoagulants( these are also called as blood thinners,reduce clotting)
• nitroglycerin
• blood pressure medication.

Some useful medicines

    The given medicines help to reduce the risk of heart attack and may help to cure it in many ways.But we cant say anything,it is also related with our lifestyle.Healthy lifestyle helps to maintain the body hormones and good cholesterol.

      The medicines used primarily include:

• anticoagulant
• antianginal
• narcotic
• beta blocker
• statin
• ACE inhibitor

      These all perform various functions to control the risk of having heart attack.These help to reduce blood clot formation,by inhibiting the reactions those result in internal bleeding.Some of these help to reduce chest pain or pressure due to blockages in the arteries.These may also help to relieve pain,dulls the senses and causes  drowsiness.Some of these may reduce blood pressure in arteries by decreasing heart rate.Also help to reduce or eliminate the production of harmful cholesterol.

Conclusion

         What is our aim here?There is alternative of everything.If you want to stay safe or avoid heart attack then you must be careful from the beginning.Just maintain your goals,stay in your limits and help your body to maintain fitness.This all will help to control the diseases.This all will help you to live healthy and fresh life.

 Although now all this depends on individuals mind what to choose,healthy life or medicines and hospital visits which will ruin their entire life.

What is your opinion about all this?Tell us in the comments box.....

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