HEART ATTACK: CAUSES, SYMPTOMS & TREATMENT

Heart attack or Myocardial infarction is a dangerous condition caused by insufficient blood flow to the heart muscle. Different factors are responsible for this lack of blood flow, but it is generally related to the blockage of one or more of the heart’s arteries.
Since there is reduced blood flow to a heart muscle, it starts dying, and if blood flow is not restored rapidly, it can lead to a heart attack causing permanent heart failure and death. Knowing heart attack symptoms and causes is imperative because it is a life-threatening condition requiring prompt care.
If anyone suspects a heart attack, they should call 102 for an ambulance or any local emergency service number or immediately take the person to the hospital. Time is crucial in heart attack treatment, and a delay of even a few minutes can cause permanent heart failure and death.

What Are the Symptoms of a Heart Attack? 

Common heart attack symptoms include:

• Pressure, heaviness, discomfort, squeezing, tightness in the chest. Heart attack pain areas include the arm, chest and the area below the breastbone.
• Signs of heart attack also include discomfort in the throat, jaw and back.
• Indigestion, fullness or a choking feeling that feels like heartburn.
• Uneven or fast heartbeat
• Severe weakness, fatigue, anxiety and shortness of breath
• Upset stomach, sweating, dizziness or vomiting

The signs of heart attack can differ from one person to another and from one kind of heart attack to another. Some common heart attack symptoms in women are:

• Vomiting or nausea
• Shortness of breath
• Lightheadedness or dizziness
• Unusual fatigue
• Discomfort in the upper back, neck or shoulder
• Discomfort in the gut or feeling like indigestion

Well, there are no heart attack symptoms in some kinds of heart attack called a silent myocardial infarction. Such heart attacks are common in people with diabetes.

What Are the Causes of Heart Attack?

One of the common reasons for heart attack is blockage of the blood vessels supplying oxygen-rich blood to the heart. This happens because of plaque build-up within the arteries. The condition is known as atherosclerosis.
Most of the time, plaque deposits within the coronary heart arteries can rupture or break open, and a blood clot sticks to the ruptured area. If this clot blocks the coronary artery, it deprives the heart muscle of oxygen-rich blood, resulting in a heart attack.
Nevertheless, blockage of blood vessels is not just one of the most common reasons for heart attack. Heart attacks are also possible without any kind of blockage, and this is rare and accounts for just 5% of all heart attacks. Heart attack causes, besides blockage, include:

• Rare Medical Problems: Any disease causing the unusual narrowing of the blood vessels.
• Spasm of the Artery: The muscle lining of the blood vessels allows them to get narrower or wider as required. These muscles sometimes spasm or twitch,      interrupting blood flow to the heart muscle.
• Obstruction from Other Parts of the Body: An air bubble or blood clot in the coronary artery can lead to a heart attack.
• Trauma: Ruptures or tears in the coronary arteries are also a possible cause of heart attack.
• Eating disorders: Different eating disorders can damage the heart over time and lead to a heart attack.
• Electrolyte Imbalances: Having too little or too many important minerals, such as potassium in the blood, is called electrolyte imbalance which is considered      one of the main causes of a heart attack. 

Medical Treatment Related to Heart Attack

A heart attack is an extremely dangerous condition that requires immediate medical treatment to prevent permanent heart failure or a person’s death. Treatment is often administered in the ambulance or an emergency room.

At the hospital, before administering any drugs or other treatment options to the patient, the doctor enquires about heart attack symptoms and tries to work on the possible heart attack causes.

Next, the patient quickly gets the required drugs to prevent blood clotting and to ease pressure on the heart. Top quality drug therapy breaks up or prevents blood clots, stabilises plaque, prevents more ischemia and stops platelets from sticking or collecting to plaque.

The patient should get drug therapy within one or two hours from the start of the attack to control heart damage.

Common drugs to treat a heart attack include:

• Clot busters or thrombolytic therapy dissolve the blood clots in the heart’s arteries.
• Aspirin to avoid further blood clotting that can make the condition worse.
• Other antiplatelet medicines that stop blood clotting include Plavix, Effient and Brilinta.

Other medicines during or after a heart attack can help the heart work better, lower heart attack pain; widen the blood vessels, and avoid dangerous heart rhythms.

Other treatments treat heart attack pain areas by opening the blocked arteries. These include:

• Balloon Angioplasty: During this treatment, a thin, hollow balloon-tipped catheter or tube is inserted in the blocked artery of the heart. This balloon is then inflated to press plaque outward against the artery walls. This opens the artery and improves blood flow, thus relieving heart attack pain.
• Cardiac Catheterisation: This treatment is also used to open blocked or narrowed arteries.
• Stent Placement: In this process, a stent or small tube is placed in the blocked artery to open it. The metal stent is permanent and can also be made of material that the body absorbs with time. Some stents even have medicines to avoid recurring blockage of the arteries.

Bypass surgery might be needed in the days after a heart attack to reroute blood supply to the blocked arteries and thus to the heart.

Complications

The complications of a heart attack are mainly because of the damage to the heart muscle. Common complications include:

• Atypical or irregular heart rhythms
• Heart failure
• Cardiogenic shock
• Cardiac arrest
• Inflammation of the tissue surrounding the heart

Conclusion

Most people who experience a heart attack survive if they know heart attack causes and symptoms and visit the health expert immediately. The sooner the patient gets treatment, the better the outcome will be. 

Alternatively, people can also visit Wellness Forever for better self-help and health guidance related to heart attacks. This leading online medical store in India deals in top quality, genuine, reliable vitamins, mineral supplements, and health products that can keep your heart and whole body healthy.