Heart attack

Heart attack is a sudden blocking of the coronary arteries by a clot. Usually it occurs in coronary vessels suffering from atherosclerosis. This is a slow process starting in youth or middle age and going on for years without causing any symptoms. Fatty deposits build up along the inner walls of the arteries of the heart until they sudden stop the blood flow to an area of the heart muscle that dies (myocardial infarction). The damaged area of heart muscle dies and is repaired by scar tissue.

The most common warning signs of a heart attack are:

q       Uncomfortable pressure, fullness, squeezing or pain in the center of the chest that last more than a few minutes, or goes away and comes back

q       Chest discomfort with lighteadedness, fainting, sweating, shortness of breath or nausea

q       Pain that spreads to the shoulders, neck or arms

The less common signs are:

q       Nausea or dizziness (without chest pain)

q       Shortness of breath and difficulty breathing (without chest pain)

q       Stomach or abdominal pain

q       Unexplained anxiety, weakness or fatigue

q       Palpitations, cold sweat or paleness

The heart attack may be complicated by serious and even fatal disturbance of heart rhythm (arrhytmias). The most dangerous arrhythmias is ventricular fibrillation which prevents any effectiveheart beatat all so that the circulation stops (cardiac arrest). In this case cardiac massage with artificial respiration and defibrillation can save the life.

Thrombolysis can save your life

Prompt thrombolitic treatment (clot-dissolving drugs) is well established  in the management of acute myocardial infarction (heart attack), and mortality is reduced and clinical outcome improved if treatment is started in the first hour after the onset of  ischaemic chest pain.  Thrombolitics work by quickly dissolving the clot that forms on top of a plaque in a coronary artery. By dissolving the clot , they eliminate part of the blockage in the coronary artery. Blood flow is thereby restored to the heart. The management of patients with acute myocardial infarction will be most effective when the interval between the onset of pain and initiation of thrombolysis – The “pain to needle time” is as short as possible. It is for this reason that you should call for an ambulance to take you to the emergency room as quickly as possible whenever you suspect that you may be having a heart attack. Remember, the longer you delay, the less likely you are to benefit from clot- dissolving drugs. Time is heart muscle!!

Firsts heart attack risk test

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