Acute myocardial infraction i.e. AMI is commonly known as heart attack. When blood supply is interrupted in any parts of heart, it leads to this lethal disease and this needs immediate medical attention. The obvious cause of this blockage in any part of heart is the shortage of oxygen and this, in turn, can bring about a catastrophic result. It can severely damage a tissue of the heart often leading to fatal results.
It has been observed that 1 in 6 women and 1 in 4 men die because of severe heart attack. Anyone from any age group can become the victim of this disease. However the disease is common among middle aged people.
Causes of Heart Attack
The causes of heart attack can be diverse. Heart muscle needs constant supply of oxygen and nutrients for supplying blood in every parts of the body. To execute this task, tissues of the heart need a continuous supply of blood from coronary arteries. If, for any reason coronary arteries can’t supply adequate nutrients and oxygen in heart muscle, acute pain in heart can be felt and this is known as heat attack. The narrowing of arteries is the prominent cause of this lethal disease. If coronary arteries become too narrow, a patient will get less time to take any step before an acute pain begins. This may in long run damage heart tissues often causing fatal consequences.
Sometimes, fatty plaques begin to develop inside a coronary artery and this ultimately results in clotting blood. The coronary artery being blocked completely might lead to heart attack. Splitting of the wall of a coronary artery can also lead to this fatal disease because this will ultimately hinder continuous supply of oxygen and essential nutrients in the heart muscles resulting in their collapse. High blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol and smoking are some of the common causes of heart attack.
Heart Attack Types
Heart attacks can be of different types. Sometimes, a heart attack damages the left ventricle by affecting the front wall of the heart. Left Ventricle pumps blood in different parts of the body and if it is damaged, it can cause a life-threatening heart attack. Sometimes a heart attack targets heart’s inferior surface and it can disrupt normal heart beats. In another type of heart attack, the effects of a heart attack can’t be determined in an ECG. This kind of heart attack may need special medical attention.
Heart Attack Symptoms
The symptoms of heart attack may vary person to person but common similarities can be traced in between them. Among plethora of symptoms of heart attacks, an acute pain in the chest is the prominent one. Sometimes, this chest pain can move from one section of the body to other section. This pain can continue for one minute or more than one minute; however it is often quiet intense in nature. Quite often, people can’t feel the pain of a heart attack.
Difficulty in breathing, sweating unnaturally, numbness or dizziness and vomiting are some of the common symptoms of a heart attack. Abnormal heart beats is also another important sign of this disease.
Heart Attack Treatment
Treatment of heart attack needs to begin on an immediate basis. If a person experience acute pain and believes he/she is having a heart attack immediate action needs to be taken; aspirin can be given to facilitate the flow of blood through coronary arteries. Oxygen and pain relief medications are also used in treating a patient who has faced a heart attack.
Sometimes, practitioners try to open a blocked artery which will ensure the normal flow of blood in heart. Some medications are now used to unblock an artery and these drugs are known as 'clot busters' or thrombolytics. These drugs have achieved a spectacular sixty percent success rate. Though it can relieve a patient from the heart attack temporarily, yet these are indispensable as it allows for immediate treatment before a medical practitioner arrives.
PCI i.e. Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty is the name of an operation in which a tube is inserted into a coronary artery to prevent the incident of blockage. This can generate a long term relief from this lethal disease.
Advice:
Shunning the habit of smoking can help a person to evade this disease. After having a severe heart attack, one should take a break from regular strenuous activities because this can increase the risk of the reoccurrence of heart attack.
