WHAT IS HEART ATTACK? SYMPTOMS, CAUSES, AND DIAGNOSIS
Dear
readers, today I going to discuss one of the most important health issues
that we have faced or any of our near or dear ones have been facing in our day
to day life.
In today’s world, people who are affected by heart disease are
increasing quite frequently. Generally, some different ways or precautions could be taken up to prevent or diagnose it.
So, here in this post, I am
going to highlight what is a heart attack, its causes, the factors leading to it
and symptoms and how could one prevent it.
What
is a heart attack?
People
might know that the heart is an organ that needs oxygen to survive.
A heart attack
happens when the flow of blood which brings oxygen to the heart muscles is blocked.
This blockage may happen for various reasons most likely due to buildup of fats,
cholesterol, and other substances, which all together form a plaque in the
arteries and prevents the follow of blood or reduces it.
What
are the symptoms of a heart attack?
The
symptoms of a heart attack may vary in different situations. Not every person who
is having a heart attack may go through the same signs or the same severity of
pain. Some might have severe pain and some might have a mild one.
There are also some cases that people get a
heart attack without prior intimations and that might be a case of cardiac arrest.
But here I have tried to bring together some
of the major symptoms of a person probable to a heart attack:-
- Pressure, tightness, pain, or a squeezing or aching sensation
in your chest or arms that may spread to your neck, jaw, or back.
- Nausea, indigestion, heartburn, or abdominal pain.
- Fatigue, Lightheadedness, or sudden dizziness.
Factors that lead to a heart attack?
High
blood pressure, atherosclerosis or narrowing of the arteries which results:
i) Suspensions of blood flow
ii) Radiation therapy
iii) Smoking
iv) Sleeplessness
v) High blood cholesterol
vi) Diabetes
vii) Obesity
viii) Lack of
physical activities
ix) Excess amount of fats in the body
x) Too much consumption of
alcohol
xi) Stress
xii) Pollution
xiii) Even if you have it in the family.
These are some of
the major causes that could lead a person to a heart attack.
Just for example
obesity can lead to high blood pressure, increase the percentage of cholesterol
in the blood, and could also lead to diabetes. A person could also have all four
problems at the same time.
Causes of heart diseases
When
the coronary arteries get blocked and
results in stoppage of blood due to build up of various substance, including
cholesterol (atherosclerosis).
Diabetes
and other physical conditions like-when the heart gets weak and leads to a very
severe pain caused by a viral infection (myocarditis) or if someone has a
deficiency by birth also leads to heart diseases.
But
in most cases, high blood pressure is one of the major factors in contributing
to heart diseases.
How
to prevent yourself from a heart attack?
By
remaining physically active through regular exercise and try to avoid a sedentary lifestyle. Below are some of
the tips by following which we could improve our day to day lifestyle and stay
healthy.
1)Lose weight: The National Institute of diabetes and
Kidney Disorder has suggested that if a person can lose weight 5-10 kg daily he
could be less prone to a heart attack.
2)Exercise: A habit of regular exercise is very useful
in controlling factors leading to heart attacks such as high blood
pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes.
3)Food habits: Eating healthy foods will help you in reducing
the risk of more heart problems.
Eating foods like fish containing too much oil,
along with fruits and vegetables that have a high amount of fats
polyunsaturated and omega-3 fatty acids can reduce the risk of heart
diseases.
Avoid adding to much salt to the food and always
opt for “low-salt’ or ‘salt reduced’ foods where possible. Try to develop the
habit of drinking more water and avoid sugar-sweetened drinks.
4) Say no to tobacco: The root cause of
almost all of the heart disease is smoking or consumption of nicotine which
exaggerates the chances of heart diseases almost like 70%.
Yes, it may not easy for a person who is
habitual but one could stop following the bad habit it could reduce the chances
of heart diseases to a very high extent.
Diagnosis
Your
doctor may advise you to perform these tests mentioned below:
1) Electrocardiogram or ECG is the primary test done to monitor electrical
activity of the heart and tells how
much the heart muscle has been damaged and where.
2)Blood test: There
are different level of cardiac enzymes that leaks slowly
into your bloodstream after a heart is damaged from a heart attack.
These
enzymes are generally inside the cells of your heart. A doctor takes samples of your blood to test for the presence of these enzymes by which they can determine the severity of a heart attack and when it started.
The
test also measures the troponin level or the proteins inside the heart
cells that are released after a heart attack.
3)Echocardiography
is a test that is used
during or after a heart attack by directing sound waves at your heart from
a wandlike device (transducer) held on your chest to learn how your heart is
pumping and what are the areas that aren’t pumping the way it usually does.
4)Cardiac catheterization is required if the medication isn’t helping the
ischemia or symptoms.
A liquid dye is injected into the
arteries of your heart through a long, thin tube (catheter) that's fed through
an artery in your heart. The cardiac cath makes the arteries visible and can
give an image of the blocked artery.
5)Exercise
stress test may require you to walk
on a treadmill or pedal, a stationary bike while attached to an ECG machine so
that you might also have a stress test to measure how your heart and blood
vessels respond to exertion this test may happen in a day or week after your
heart attack.
Medication or Drugs to treat a heart
attack
Medication
or drug therapy is used to break up or prevent blood clotting, stop platelets
from collecting and sticking to the plaque and prevent ischemia. Medications
given to treat heart attack might include:-
1) Aspirin reduces blood clotting thus helping in
maintaining blood flow through a narrowed artery. This may be the reason most
of the people tend to build up a habit of taking an aspirin daily.
But this
habit may also have a side effect because the consumption of aspirin daily may lead
to bleeding. Aspirin should be used under doctor’s supervision only.
2) Other
antiplatelet drugs such as clopidogrel, prasugrel, or ticagrelor
to stop clotting.
3) Thrombolytics
helps in dissolving
a blood clot that’s blocking blood flow to your heart.
But before opting for any kind of medication or treatment you need to seek a doctor’s consultation for better treatment as your doctor is the best person to know what is his patient going through.
What
are other treatments for a heart attack?
1) Cardiac
catheterization in addition to making a picture of your arteries, cardiac
cath is also used to open narrowed or blocked arteries (angiography).
2) By
Pass surgery is performed to restore the blood supply to your heart.
An
overview
According
to World Health Organization many people have lost their lives due to heart
attack.
In
2016 almost 17.9 million people have lost their lives out of which 31% have
been unnatural deaths caused by a heart attack.
According
to World Health Organization 3.6 million people are going to lose their lives till
2030 per year on account of a heart attack.
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