The Signs and Symptoms of a Heart Attack
Often
people expect a heart attack to be dramatic like it is in the movies.
But in reality — most often — that is not the case. This article thus
spells out the signs and symptoms of a heart attack.
What happens during a heart attack?
During a heart attack, the blood flow
to the heart muscle is either reduced or completely stops. This
typically happens because of a blood clot that is blocking an artery. When the heart muscle does not get oxygen-rich blood, it ceases to work.
Some common heart attack symptoms:
- A heart attack often causes chest pain.
- There is a feeling of fullness or a clasping pain in the centre of the
chest. Most victims describe the pain as akin to an elephant standing o
n the chest (extreme pain). It usually lasts for about 15 minutes.
- One also experiences shooting pain in the shoulders, neck, arm,
back and sometimes even the teeth and jaw.
- One finds increasing episodes of chest pain.
- Prolonged pain in the upper abdomen.
- Shortness of breath.
- The victim might experience heavy sweating.
- Since the heart’s pumping action is severely impaired during a severe heart attack,
the victim might lose his/her consciousness.
* In rare cases, as in patients who
are diabetic, the heart attack may not be very painful, and sometimes
can even be entirely painless.
Some symptoms that may also appear include:
Heart attack symptoms are not the same for all
Not everyone who has a heart attack
has the same symptoms. Many a time, we also tend to ignore a heart
attack thinking it might be mere abdominal discomfort due to gas pains
or indigestion. If you have more than a few symptoms listed above, then
you are likely to be having an attack. Get emergency help immediately.
What to do in case of a heart attack?
Rush to a hospital. Immediately. If
you recognise that you or someone around is having a heart attack, get
immediate medical help.
Give Disprin (Asprin): As soon as you
recognise it is an attack, crush a disprin, dissolve it in water and
make the person drink it.
Emergency numbers: Every office and home must keep a list of emergency numbers like that of an ambulance service, hospital.
A heart attack is different from a cardiac arrest
Do not confuse a heart attack with cardiac arrest.
In the case of a cardiac arrest, the heart suddenly stops. It occurs
due to an electrical disturbance that obstructs the heart’s pumping
function, which results in stopping blood flow to the rest of the body.
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Sudden Cardiac Arrest
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Heart Attack
|
Definition |
SCA is a chaotic electrical condition
of the heart resulting in the loss of blood flow to the brain and body.
The most common form of SCA is ventricular fibrillation. |
The medical term for a heart attack
is myocardial infarction: a blockage of the coronary arteries leading to
a decrease in blood flow. When this happens, the heart muscles die or become permanently damaged. |
Causes |
Electrical impulses of the heart become chaotic due to a blow to the chest or other (sometimes-unknown) health-related issues. As a result, the heart stops beating regularly and begins to flutter rapidly. |
Plaque made of cholesterol and other cells builds up in the walls of the heart’s arteries. When the buildup is great enough, the plaque creates a blockage, known as an occlusion, which restricts the blood supply to the heart muscle. |
Symptoms |
Typically, there are no symptoms to
SCA. Usually, the first indication of SCA is when the victim faints. The
second sign is breathing cessation. |
Warning signs of heart attack include a tightening feeling in the chest, a sore or numb left arm, lower back, neck, and/or jaw. Other signs include bad indigestion, a feeling that something heavy is sitting on your chest, and shortness of breath. |
Victim's Response |
A sudden cardiac arrest victim always loses consciousness from lack of oxygen. |
The victim of a heart attack is usually conscious and alert. |
Risk of Death |
A victim of SCA will die unless treated. If left untreated, the chances of survival decrease by 10% per minute. Typically, permanent brain damage occurs within 5-7 minutes. |
Most victims can recover fully and
lead normal lives, but about a third of heart attacks are deadly. A
heart attack can lead to sudden cardiac arrest. |
Treatment |
The only treatment for SCA is
defibrillation from an automated external defibrillator (AED). A shock
from the AED stops the chaotic electrical activity and allows the
heart's sinus node to resume a normal electrical impulse. |
One treatment of a heart attack can
be angioplasty, which opens up the blocked vessels with a medical
balloon. Afterwards, a stent can be placed in the artery to help keep it
open. Other treatments include clot-busting drugs called thrombolytics or nitroglycerin to reduce chest pain. |
Some materials submitted by: venkatachalam p
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